The top Democrat on the House’s oversight panel has vowed to investigate how an intruder was able to get into White House last week, a scenario he called a “major, major” security failure.
“It is extremely upsetting to me and it should be upsetting to every American,” Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings told MSNBC on Monday. “I hate to even imagine somebody getting close to the White House.”
The Maryland Democrat said the panel’s national security subcommittee will hold a hearing next week to address the issue.
Omar Gonzalez, 42, of Copperas Cove, Texas, was arrested Friday after he was accused of scaling a fence and making it into the White House before the Secret Service stopped him. The Iraq war veteran, who was carrying a small knife, faces charges of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon.
Cummings said he hopes the security breach “is not symbolic of other things” wrong within the Secret Service.
“This is supposed to be the highest security firm in the entire world, and to be able to get inside the White House, to me, is a major major problem,” he said. “When I see things like this happen, it makes me wonder about what I don’t see.”
