US Secret Service director to step down next month

US Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy waits for the beginning of a hearing before the Homeland Security Sub-committee of the House Appropriations Committee March 17, 2015 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

US Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy has planned to resign next month, leaving President Donald Trump to pick the person he wants to lead the 7,000-employee agency tasked with protecting the president and his family.


The agency made the announcement on Tuesday, adding that Clancy will step down on March 4 after nearly three decades of serving.

"Congratulations Dir Clancy on your retirement! The men & women of the @SecretService are grateful for your 29 years of service & leadership," the Secret Service said in a tweet.

The resignation came only three weeks after the director of Secret Service was praised by Trump. Clancy came out of retirement in 2014 to take over the embattled agency amid a series of security breaches and embarrassing scandals.

In a note to staffers, the 70-year-old stated that the new US president and his administration have been supportive of him; however, it was time to step down once again for “personal reasons.”

“My love for this agency has only complicated the decision further, but for personal reasons it is time,” Clancy wrote. “I can assure you better days are ahead for this agency with new leadership at the director's position.”

Reacting to the resignation, Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of House of Representatives Oversight Committee released a statement wishing Clancy the best.

"I appreciate Director Clancy's dedicated service to this country,” Chaffetz said. “He took on the difficult task of returning to and taking over an agency plagued with mismanagement, misconduct, and security lapses.”

The congressman recommended that Trump select a new security chief from outside the agency.

“A fresh set of eyes and new perspective is needed to restore the prestige and status expected of such an elite agency," Chaffetz said.

Clancy joined the Secret Service in 1984 and became the leader of former President Barack Obama’s security detail in 2009, before initially retiring in 2011.