House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office said Wednesday afternoon the California Democrat isn’t calling for beleaguered Secret Service Director Julia Pierson to resign, despite earlier comments suggesting she should go.
When asked during a morning briefing with reporters if she agreed with a suggestion by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., that Pierson should step down, Pelosi responded; “If Mr. Cummings thinks that she should go, I subscribe to his recommendation.”
Cummings told MSNBC Wednesday morning that his trust in Pierson’s leadership had eroded and that “I do not feel comfortable with her in that position.”
But the senior Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee then walked back those comments, later posting on Twitter that he hadn’t made up his mind about Pierson.
He also later told CNN that “I want her to go if she cannot restore trust in the agency and if she cannot get the culture back in order.”
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said reporters misunderstood the minority leader’s position. “To be clear, Leader Pelosi stopped short of calling for Director Pierson’s resignation in her press conference this morning,” he said.
