Obama Picks Secret Service Insider to Head the Troubled Agency

President Obama has selected acting Secret Service Director Joseph P. Clancy to lead the troubled agency on a permanent basis, the White House said Wednesday.

Clancy has served as interim director since October, when Julia Pierson resigned in the wake of a series of embarrassing security lapses.  Clancy was executive director of cable security at Comcast Corp. prior to becoming acting director, but he is a 27-year veteran of the agency, having started in 1984 at the Philadelphia Field Office.

The White House touted Clancy’s experience at the agency, but critics quickly seized on the Obama administration’s failure to follow the recommendations of an independent panel investigating the agency’s recent lapses. The panel found that the agency should start from scratch with a new leader from outside its ranks.

“The panel made it crystal clear that only a director from outside the agency would meet the needs of the agency today – someone with a fresh perspective, free from allegiances and without ties to what has consistently been described as a ‘good old boys network,’ ” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, in a statement.  “The good men and women of the Secret Service are screaming for a fresh start.”

Still, Chaffetz thanked Clancy for cooperating with the committee, and praised steps the interim director has taken to implement the panel’s other recommendations.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking member of the oversight committee, also commended Clancy’s work as acting director.  “Joe Clancy has taken strong action over the past several months to begin righting the ship at the Secret Service, he has been extremely responsive to Congress and his decisive leadership has already resulted in major changes,” Cummings stated.