WASHINGTON – A bipartisan House panel had already been investigating a previous assassination attempt against Donald Trump, and recently escalated their inquiry following a gunman being intercepted by the Secret Service at a Trump golf club in Florida on Sunday.

Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., who head the task force investigating the July attempt on Trump’s life, stated they have requested a briefing from the Secret Service to discuss the incident and their security response.

“While we are relieved that the former President remained unharmed, we are seriously troubled by political violence and denounce it in every form,” they expressed. “The Task Force will provide updates as more information becomes available.”

On Sunday, while Trump was golfing at his West Palm Beach club, Secret Service agents confronted an armed individual hiding in the bushes near the course. The suspect abandoned a rifle, two backpacks, a GoPro camera, and other belongings before fleeing but was later apprehended.

Authorities identified the suspect as 58-year-old Ryan Routh, who has roots in Hawaii and a long history of voting in North Carolina. He is a registered Democrat and a fervent advocate for Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

Trump was previously targeted in a shocking assassination attempt in July, when a gunman named Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire at a rally in western Pennsylvania, grazing Trump in the ear and resulting in a bystander’s death. Crooks was subsequently shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.

That incident led to heightened criticism of Trump’s security detail, prompting the creation of the Congressional task force and a hearing by the House Oversight Committee, during which former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle admitted it was the biggest security failure faced by the agency in decades. Cheatle resigned shortly after.

Ronald Rowe Jr., the acting Secret Service Director, also testified to a joint Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committee that there were failures in communication between local law enforcement and the Secret Service regarding the shooter’s presence.

The bipartisan task force investigating this shooting has a strict deadline and is expected to submit their findings and recommendations for preventing future assassination attempts by mid-December. The joint statement from Kelly and Crow suggests that they will include details from Sunday’s incident in their ongoing investigation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., stated on Fox News Monday that “Congress will act swiftly” in response to the recommendations from lawmakers. “We need accountability and must ensure that this role is being properly fulfilled,” he emphasized.

Johnson added that the task force plans to hold hearings “not this week, but next” and stated an interim report is due by the end of the next week.

Task force members had a meeting on Friday with Rowe, as Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., informed NewsNation that President Joe Biden had requested increased security for both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I believe that might be why the response was so quick today,” he commented, referring to the Secret Service’s identification of the shooter before he could target Trump.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., reported that he is also gathering information from whistleblowers about the previous assassination attempt on Trump in July. He released his findings on Monday and shared them with the House panel to aid their investigation.

Other Congressional leaders confirmed on Sunday that they received updates on the incident. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., commended the Secret Service for their rapid response to protect the former President, stating, “There is no room for political violence in this nation. The offender must face the law to the fullest extent.”

Johnson mentioned on X that he and his wife spent a few hours with Trump at Mar-a-Lago after the recent assassination attempt, declaring, “No leader in United States history has withstood more attacks and remained as strong and resilient as him. He is unstoppable.”

Johnson also expressed that Trump was in “very good spirits” during their meeting. “God has spared his life twice now.”