Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Embattled U.S. Secret Service gets deputy chief, new senior manager

Published 03/20/2015, 03:58 PM
Updated 03/20/2015, 03:58 PM
Embattled U.S. Secret Service gets deputy chief, new senior manager

Embattled U.S. Secret Service gets deputy chief, new senior manager

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration moved on Friday to shore up management of the scandal-hit U.S. Secret Service, the agency charged with protecting the president, by filling the vacant deputy director job and creating a new senior administrative post.

The moves announced by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy come as the agency has staggered through a series of controversies involving worrisome security lapses and the conduct of individual agents.

Johnson said in a statement that Secret Service veteran Craig Magaw would become the agency's deputy director. Johnson also said the agency would have the new position of a chief operating officer who "will serve as the principal administrator and be responsible for planning and directing all business and program activities."

"As recent events have clearly shown, there is more to be done to promote operational excellence and public trust in the Secret Service. However, change does not happen overnight," Johnson said.

Magaw has held a variety of positions in the Secret Service, including as a member of the Presidential Protective Division. In a statement, Clancy said Magaw has a "stellar reputation" and is "well respected within the Secret Service."

Clancy pledged on Thursday to get tough on his agency for keeping quiet about officers allegedly driving drunk on White House grounds.

On March 4, two Secret Service officers drove past barricades at the White House and into an area locked down because of a suspicious package. Clancy said he only learned of the incident five days later, through an anonymous email.

A.T. Smith departed in February as deputy director, responsible for daily operations, including 6,500 employees. The Secret Service removed four senior officials while another opted to retire in January as it carried out a major house-cleaning within top management.

The agency was criticized as being too insular by an independent panel appointed after an incident in which a knife-carrying man jumped a fence and ran into the White House last September in one of the worst security breaches since President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

That incident prompted former Director Julia Pierson to resign. She had been director for two years, named to the top job after agents were accused of hiring prostitutes during a 2012 trip to Colombia.

The Secret Service is responsible for protecting the president, his family and other officials, as well as fighting financial crime.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.