WASHINGTON — President Obama has decided to appoint Joseph P. Clancy, who has guided the Secret Service on an interim basis for the last four months, to lead the agency permanently, the White House announced Wednesday, 2/18/15...
Mr. Chaffetz said he appreciated “how available Acting Director Clancy has made himself over the past few months” and looked forward to working with him.
Administration officials hope that Mr. Clancy’s appointment can provide some stability at the agency, where five senior executives were demoted in the last month as part of an effort to shake-up the leadership structure and appease critics.
The Secret Service also faces a busy period ahead: Along with protecting the first family and senior government officials, it will oversee the security for a visit by Pope Francis, for the 70th United Nations General Assembly and the beginning of the 2016 presidential campaign.
President Obama has named Joseph Clancy as the new permanent director of the U.S. Secret Service, the White House confirmed Wednesday, defying the recommendation of an independent panel that recommended he look outside the agency.
Clancy, a 27-year veteran of the Secret Service and former special agent in charge of its Presidential Protection Division, took over as temporary director last October after the former director, Julia Pierson, resigned.Some panel members said Wednesday that Clancy had a good mix of experience inside and outside the agency. "Joe Clancy is deeply respected within the federal law enforcement community. He has served with distinction inside the Secret Service, and he has done well respected work outside the Secret Service too," said Mark Filip, a former federal judge and deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration.
Johnson said that he and President Obama considered a number of candidates, "including those who had never been with the Secret Service.''
"Ultimately, Joe Clancy struck the right balance of familiarity with the Secret Service and its missions, respect from within the workforce, and a demonstrated determination to make hard choices and foster needed change,'' Johnson said Wednesday. "I am confident Joe will continue this management approach.''
Clancy formed a relationship with Obama as the head of his protective division before retiring in 2011...
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama weighed Clancy's personal attachments within the Secret Service with his ability to make a "cold-eyed assessment" of the agency's problems. He said Clancy's "credibility within the agency" has helped him to implement the recommendations of the independent panel brought in to examine the agency's operations.
Last month, Clancy forced out four senior agency officials after the panel's report found that the Secret Service was "starved for leadership."
