Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign says she raised $81 million in the first 24 hours, and members of the U.S. House demanded answers from Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Harris raises $81 million in first 24 hours of her campaign, largest single-day total ever

In the hours that followed President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would step aside from the race for president, Democrats swarmed Vice President Kamala Harris with their endorsements — and their cash.

On Monday, the Harris campaign announced that it had raised $81 million across the campaign, the Democratic National Committee and joint fundraising committees in the 24 hours since launching her campaign. The eye-popping total, which the campaign says is the largest 24-hour haul in U.S. presidential history, adds to a $240 million war chest that she inherited from Biden.

"The historic outpouring of support for Vice President Harris represents exactly the kind of  grassroots energy and enthusiasm that wins elections. Already, we are seeing a broad and diverse coalition come together to support our critical work of talking to the voters that will decide this election," said campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz. "There is a groundswell behind Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump is terrified because he knows his divisive, unpopular agenda can’t stand up to the Vice President’s record and vision for the American people.”

The total is comprised of 880,000 donors, per the campaign, 60% made their first contribution in the 2024 cycle. The campaign also said it added 43,000 new recurring donors.

JD Vance makes solo debut as GOP vice presidential candidate with Monday rallies in Virginia, Ohio

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance will made his first solo appearances on the campaign trail Monday, a day after the 2024 presidential race was thrown into upheaval as President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, leaving the Democratic candidate an open question.

Vance, an Ohio senator, was scheduled to hold a rally in his hometown of Middletown on Monday afternoon, followed by a second rally Monday evening in Radford, Va., fresh off his rally debut with Donald Trump over the weekend.

Vance had been expected to eventually face Vice President Kamala Harris in a debate. But with Biden dropping out and the Democratic ticket unsettled, the senator is following Trump’s lead and focusing on attacking Biden and Harris jointly.

“President Trump and I are ready to save America, whoever’s at the top of the Democrat ticket,” Vance said Sunday in a post on X. “Bring it on.”

Trump’s campaign plans to use Vance, who became the GOP vice presidential nominee last week, in Rust Belt states that are seen as pivotal for Democrats’ path to the White House, including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and places where the senator’s blue collar roots and populist views are expected to resonate.

His hometown of Middletown, which sits between Cincinnati and Dayton, is considered to be part of the Rust Belt. Using it as the location for his first solo event as the vice presidential nominee not only allows Vance to lean into his biography, which he laid out in his bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” but it gives the campaign a chance to establish a fresh groundswell in a former swing state that has been trending Republican.

Vance’s second event on Monday was to take place in a part of western Virginia that is considered a part of the Appalachia region.

In his speech at the Republican National Convention last week introducing himself to America, Vance spoke about “forgotten communities” where “jobs were sent overseas and children were sent to war.”

The 39-year-old Republican also leaned into his relative youth, contrasting Biden’s decades in government with the milestones in his own life. It’s not clear how Vance will shift his message toward Harris, whom many Democrats were lining up to support, or any other contender for the nomination.

Despite his presence on the primetime debate stage and his bestselling book, Vance is still working to introduce himself to voters.

A CNN poll conducted in late June found the majority of registered voters had never heard of Vance or had no opinion of him. Just 13% of registered voters said they had a favorable opinion of Vance and 20% had an unfavorable one, according to the poll.

After Vance was named as Trump’s running mate, a startling number of Republican delegates, who are typically party insiders and activists, said they didn’t know much about the senator.

House members rage at Secret Service director over Trump rally shooting

The director of the Secret Service was grilled by House members and called on to resign Monday following the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump earlier this month.

Kimberly Cheatle acknowledged her agency failed in protecting Trump but has refused to step down.

“The Secret Service's solemn mission is to protect our nation's leaders. On July 13, we failed,” she told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. “I take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency.”

She added that “we must learn what happened,” and vowed to “move heaven and earth” to ensure an incident like it never happens again.

Cheatle said she wanted to be transparent with the committee, but she regularly frustrated members by not answering their questions, often citing ongoing investigations.

On July 13, a 20-year-old man perched on a nearby warehouse rooftop fired several shots at Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, striking the former president in the right ear. One rallygoer was killed, and two others were wounded. The gunman was fatally shot by a Secret Service sniper.

Several investigations have been launched into the attack. In addition to congressional inquiries, the FBI is conducting a criminal probe and the Secret Service is performing an internal investigation, Cheatle said. 

The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general has launched two inquiries, one into the Service Service’s process for protecting Trump at the rally and the other into the Counter Sniper Team’s preparedness. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also has appointed a bipartisan, independent panel of law enforcement and security experts to examine how the shooting was able to happen.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the Oversight Committee’s chairman, said the Secret Service “has now become the face of incompetence.”

“Americans demand accountability, but no one is yet to be fired to this historic failure,” he said. “It is my firm belief, Director Cheatle, that you should resign.”

The calls for Cheatle to lose her job came from members of both parties. 

“You look incompetent,” Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told Cheatle. “If Donald Trump had been killed, you would have looked culpable. … Not only should you resign, if you refuse to do so, President Biden needs to fire you because his life, Donald Trump's life and all the other people which you protect are at risk.”

“I just don’t think this is partisan,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. “If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president or a candidate, you need to resign.”

Cheatle told legislators she believes she’s the best person to run the agency at this time.

The Secret Service acknowledged this weekend it denied some requests by Trump’s campaign for increased security at his events years before the attempt on his life. Immediately after the shooting, the agency had denied rejecting such requests. 

Cheatle said Monday the Secret Service provided all assets that were requested for July 13.