Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said Sunday that security officials should reevaluate whether President Trump and Vice President JD Vance should appear together at major public events following Saturday’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, McCaul, who attended the event in Washington, said the incident raised serious concerns about the concentration of leadership in one place.

“The takeaway I got was that the line of succession,” McCaul said during the interview.

He pointed out that multiple top officials were seated together at the same table during the event, increasing the potential risk in the event of a coordinated attack.

“You had the president and the vice president at the head table, both of them together, and [House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La)]. Had an explosive device gone off, you would have knocked out the president, vice president, Speaker. The three in line of succession,” the Texas Republican noted.

When asked directly whether those leaders should avoid appearing together in public settings, McCaul reiterated his concern.

“I think the Secret Service needs to reconsider having both the president and vice president together.”

Under the current line of succession, if a president is unable to serve, the vice president and then the House Speaker would assume the role. McCaul also referenced the next official in line.

The next in succession would be the president pro tempore of the Senate, currently 92-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

Meanwhile, the investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Several news organizations have reported that the suspect is 31-year-old Cole Allen of Torrance, California, though that identification has not been independently confirmed.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Saturday that the suspect is expected to appear in federal court Monday to face charges, including using a firearm during a violent crime and assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated earlier Sunday that additional charges could be forthcoming, depending on the findings of the investigation.

He said the suspect “absolutely” could be charged with attempting to assassinate Trump depending on his “motive, his premeditation [and] what he wanted to do.”

According to a CBS News report citing law enforcement and White House officials, the suspect authored a manifesto outlining his intentions. The document reportedly described a plan to target administration officials in order of rank.

The manifesto stated he aimed to target Trump administration officials “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.” A White House official confirmed to The Hill that such a document exists.

Blanche said he remains confident in the level of security at the event and emphasized that the administration will not change its approach in response to the attack.

He said he is “very comfortable” that Trump, Vance and Johnson were present and stressed that the shooting “is not the kind of thing that will deter” the administration.

“This is not the kind of thing that will cause us to go down in a bunker and not come out. … We are going to continue to do our jobs,” Blanche added.

He also underscored the importance of continuing normal operations, including engagement with the press, while maintaining strong security measures.

“And our jobs include interacting with the press, which we do, which I’m doing now, which we did last night, and so very comfortable, because what you do when you have an environment like that, when you have the leaders of the free world in one room, is you make sure that you have security that will stop anybody from getting anywhere near any of those individuals,” he continued.

{Matzav.com}