The new acting head of the US Secret Service said he “lost sleep” over security failures that led to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during a testy congressional hearing on Tuesday.

During a lengthy US Senate hearing, Ronald Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate discussed the ongoing investigation into the events surrounding the shooting. They also talked about the information they have gathered about the shooter and the security lapses that enabled the gunman to fire at the former president.

Mr. Rowe testified before a joint panel of the Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary committees, following the resignation of his predecessor, Kim Cheatle, a week earlier.

Ms Cheatle faced intense criticism for the Secret Service’s handling of the 13 July rally in Butler that left a man dead and Trump and two others injured, and her inability to answer questions before the House Oversight Committee last week was ridiculed by Democrats and Republicans.

The two men’s answers at Tuesday’s hearings were more substantive than what was heard previously, and Mr Rowe attempted to reassure Senators with new plans to address security lapses.