CLOSE After two years at the helm of the Secret Service, Joseph Clancy is retiring. Veuer's Nick Cardona (@nickcardona93) has the details. Buzz60

Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy (Photo: Justin Lane, EPA)

WASHINGTON — Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy announced his retirement Tuesday, two years after President Barack Obama appointed him to right the then-troubled agency.

"I am announcing I will retire from the Secret Service effective March 4,'' Clancy said in a message to staffers. "President Trump and his administration have been very supportive of this agency and of me personally which makes this a very difficult decision. My love for this Agency has only complicated the decision further, but for personal reasons it is time. I look forward to spending time with my family.''

Clancy, a career agent who headed the organization's Presidential Protection Division, was called out of retirement more than two years ago after the service was rocked by a series of high-profile incidents of misconduct and security breaches, including a fence-jumper armed with a knife who made it into the presidential residence before being tackled by agents.

In the fallout, then-Director Julia Pierson, the first woman to lead the agency, was forced to resign.

In selecting Clancy, Obama defied the recommendation of a bipartisan White House security panel, which recommended that a new director come from outside the agency.

During his brief tenure, Clancy moved to stabilize the service while presiding over the most demanding period in the organization's history. Beginning in 2015, with Pope Francis' visit to the United States, through the raucous election season and culminating with last month's inauguration, the service has been challenged by an unrelenting workload.

"The Secret Service is stretched to and, in many cases, beyond its limits,'' the investigative panel concluded following Pierson's resignation. "Perhaps the service's greatest strength--the commitment of its personnel to sacrifice and do the job no matter what--has had unintended consequences.''

Just prior to Election Day, USA TODAY reported that at least 1,000 agents, about a third of the workforce, had already maxed out annual overtime and salary allowances, a consequence of the contentious political season's demands.

The disclosure prompted new legislation that ensured payment of previously uncovered overtime. The agency is now in the midst of an effort to add more than 1,000 agents and uniformed officers to the ranks by next fall.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who led reviews of the agency as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Tuesday acknowledged Clancy's "dedicated service'' but called on Trump to select a successor from outside the agency.

Chaffetz had previously called on Obama to make an outside appointment before Clancy's selection.

"He took on a difficult task of returning to and taking over an agency plagued with mismanagement, misconduct and security lapses,'' Chaffetz said of Clancy. "Under his leadership, the Secret Service has worked with this committee to implement detailed recommendations'' made by the panel's staff.

Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, lauded the service's work during the busy campaign season, characterizing the protection effort as "stellar.''

"He also helped restore professionalism at the agency after a series of security lapses and incidents of misconduct over the past few years,'' Goodlatte said. "I have the utmost respect for Director Clancy and his leadership.''

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Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2lge4Yy</s>United States Secret Service director Joseph Clancy announced his retirement Tuesday, two years after he was appointed to the position by President Barack Obama. Clancy informed White House officials last week of his intention to step down, effective March 4, the Washington Post reported .

Start the conversation, or Read more at WFTV Orlando.</s>(CNN) -- United States Secret Service director Joseph Clancy announced his retirement to the staff Tuesday, a spokesperson tells CNN.

"The success of the Secret Service is achieved with great sacrifice by all of you and your families," Clancy wrote in a letter to employees. "Please accept my sincere and heartfelt thanks for your dedication to our mission. You have inspired me. My hope was that I could return your gifts of inspiration with some measure of good for the Secret Service."

Clancy took over as acting director of the agency in October 2014 and later was sworn in as permanent director in February 2015.

"My love for this agency has only complicated the decision further, but for personal reasons it is time. I look forward to spending time with my family," Clancy wrote.

He said his retirement was effective March 4.</s>Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy is going back into retirement.</s>WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 17: US Secret Service Director, Joseph Clancy, attends House Homeland Security Committee and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, November 17, 2015 in Washington, DC. The committees were hearing testimony on "Examining Ongoing Challenges at the U.S. Secret Service and their Government-wide Implications". (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

United States Secret Service director Joseph Clancy announced his retirement Tuesday, two years after he was appointed to the position by President Barack Obama.

Clancy informed White House officials last week of his intention to step down, effective March 4, the Washington Post reported.

He broke the news to staffers in a letter Tuesday, according to CNN and USA Today.

"As all of you know, President Trump and his administration have been very supportive of this agency and of me personally, which makes this a very difficult decision," he wrote in the letter. "My love for this agency has only complicated the decision further, but for personal reasons it is time. I look forward to spending time with my family."

Clancy came out of retirement to serve as acting director of the Secret Service in October 2014 amid a rash of high-profile stumbles and mishaps by the agency. One month before Clancy's tenure began, a knife-wielding man climbed over the White House fence and opened the door to the executive mansion. He was later apprehended.

Clancy was sworn in as permanent director in February 2015, CNN reported.

"He took on the difficult task of returning to and taking over an agency plagued with mismanagement, misconduct and security lapses," House Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said in a statement. "Under his leadership, the Secret Service has worked with this committee to implement detailed recommendations put forth in our bipartisan staff report. I wish him and his family the best as they begin a new chapter."

Clancy told the Washington Post that his "proudest moments" as Secret Service director came in 2015 as authorities worked Pope Francis' four-city visit to America and a United Nations General Assembly meeting that brought 170 foreign dignitaries to New York.

"We had been going through a tough time, but I could see in their eyes and hear in their voices they were determined to succeed," he told the Post. "They wanted to prove to everyone they could complete this most difficult mission, and they did. I knew they were exhausted, but they were determined, and knowing what they had been through over recent years, it was inspirational to me."

Clancy joined the Secret Service in 1984. He became the head of Obama's detail in 2009 and retired in 2011, according to Politico.

House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, praised Clancy's work Tuesday and wished him well in a statement.

"Director Clancy has served our nation honorably for decades by protecting several presidents, their families and the White House complex from harm," Goodlatte said. "Under director Clancy's leadership, the Secret Service did a stellar job protecting presidential candidates during the 2016 election. He also helped restore professionalism at the agency after a series of security lapses and incidents of misconduct over the past few years."

It was not immediately clear who would replace Clancy. Chaffetz urged Trump to bring in "a fresh set of eyes and new perspective" with an appointment from outside the agency.

The Washington Post named George Mulligan, the chief operating officer of the Secret Service and a former Pentagon official, as the top candidate to fill Clancy's spot.

"Other names being discussed include former Clinton detail leader Larry Cockell; Mickey Nelson, a former assistant director; and the newly promoted deputy director William Callahan," according to the newspaper.</s>Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy is retiring, for a second time, just three weeks after being praised by President Donald Trump.

Clancy, 70, came out of retirement more than two years ago to take over the embattled agency amid a series of embarrassing scandals and security blunders.

Clancy, a career agent, was made the interim director in late 2014 and then-President Barack Obama made the job permanent in early 2015. The agency announced his retirement in a tweet Tuesday.

'Congratulations Dir Clancy on your retirement! The men & women of the @SecretService are grateful for your 29 years of service & leadership,' the message read.

Clancy's departure means that Trump will now have to pick the person he wants to lead the 7,000-employee agency tasked with protecting him and his family among others.

Clancy, who will leave the Secret Service on March 4, was recruited to lead the agency after then-Director Julia Pierson, the first woman to occupy the top job, was forced out after security breaches were made public in newspaper reports.

One incident involved a man carrying a knife who jumped the White House fence and ran into the executive mansion.

In a note to staffers, Clancy said that although President Trump and his administration have been supportive of him, it was time to leave the agency 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."

Clancy added that the search for his successor has commenced.

During a meeting with law enforcement officials and first responders held at the White House's Blue Room just two days after his inauguration, Donald Trump publicly gave Clancy a special 'bro handshake' by grasping the directors' thumb between his own thumb and forefinger partway through.

He also thanked the veteran agent for his service and declared that Clancy would do 'a great job.'

Though largely praised for his leadership, Clancy's tenure was not without its own scandals.

Twice he had to go to Capitol Hill to explain the misdeeds of agents. Perhaps the most embarrassing was the unauthorized review of Rep. Jason Chaffetz's decade-old job application with the agency.

Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, had led investigations into allegations of wrongdoings and scandals at the Secret Service. Tuesday he praised Clancy's leadership and thanked him for his service.

He also encouraged Trump to look outside the agency for Clancy's replacement.

'A fresh set of eyes and new perspective is needed to restore the prestige and status expected of such an elite agency,; the congressman said in a statement.</s>Joseph Clancy, the head of the Secret Service, announced he would be stepping down from the position on March 4, as reported by The Washington Post. The announcement opens up the door for Donald Trump to pick his own security chief, which may come under immense scrutiny after National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn resigned following accusations that he was vulnerable to Russian blackmail.

Clancy took the position in 2014 after President Obama asked him to come out of the private sector to overhaul the Secret Service. The Washington Post notes that the agency had seen some security breaches in recent years and had its lowest number of employees in over ten years. So, the pressure was on for Clancy, but he seemed to do a bang up job. Clancy said although he enjoyed reinvigorating the agency, he feels its time to hang it up:

“I am announcing I will retire from the Secret Service effective March 4. As all of you know, President Trump and his administration have been very supportive of this agency and of me personally which makes this a very difficult decision. My love for this Agency has only complicated the decision further, but for personal reasons it is time. I look forward to spending time with my family.”

Everyone deserves a comfortable retirement, but Clancy’s exit arrives during a period of upheaval for the Trump administration. Flynn’s conduct with the Russian ambassador, which the White House was aware of before his Monday night resignation, raises many questions. Many are concerned that the administration is now unknowingly vulnerable to attack, which is something they are trying to sweep under the rug. But after Flynn, they may look to right the ship with a new Secret Service head.</s>The director of the Secret Service is stepping down. Joseph Clancy informed his colleagues of his decision to retire, effective March 4, saying that "for personal reasons, it is time." Clancy, 61, says he wants to spend more time with his family.

Clancy was brought back to the Secret Service as director by former President Obama in 2014 after a string of security lapses and misconduct by agents and officers.

He had left the agency for a job in the private sector in 2011 after serving as the head of Obama's protective detail.

Obama asked Clancy to return to the service as acting director after then-Director Julia Pierson was asked to resign. Clancy took over an agency in turmoil, with reports of carousing agents and security breaches, the most embarrassing when an Iraq War veteran scaled the White House fence and made it into the White House itself before being stopped.

In his letter to Secret Service staff, Clancy said he can assure them that "better days are ahead for this Agency with new leadership at the Director's position" and that he could not be "more impressed, more grateful and more proud of all of you."

The Secret Service has some 7,000 employees and is charged with investigating counterfeiting as well as protecting the president, vice president, their families, former presidents and other dignitaries.

President Trump, who Clancy said has been "very supportive" of the agency, will be able to name a replacement.</s>United States Secret Service director Joseph Clancy announced his retirement to the staff Tuesday, a spokesperson tells CNN.

“The success of the Secret Service is achieved with great sacrifice by all of you and your families,” Clancy wrote in a letter to employees obtained by CNN. “Please accept my sincere and heartfelt thanks for your dedication to our mission. You have inspired me. My hope was that I could return your gifts of inspiration with some measure of good for the Secret Service.”

Clancy took over as acting director of the agency in October 2014 and later was sworn in as permanent director in February 2015.

“My love for this agency has only complicated the decision further, but for personal reasons it is time. I look forward to spending time with my family,” Clancy wrote.

He said his retirement was effective March 4.

Clancy is a 27-year veteran of the Secret Service who ran the presidential protection division during the first years of Barack Obama’s presidency. And he has noted there are more similarities than differences among the presidents they protect.

But there have been reports of tension between the Secret Service and the private security team that’s protected Donald Trump for years. Clancy has rejected that.

“There is no friction at all” with Trump’s private team, insisted Clancy in an interview with CNN last month.

The Secret Service has been beset by scandals in recent years after security intrusions and a number of agents were found to have hired prostitutes in Colombia.</s>(USATODAY) — WASHINGTON — Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy announced his retirement Tuesday, two years after President Barack Obama appointed him to right the then-troubled agency.

“I am announcing I will retire from the Secret Service effective March 4,” Clancy said in a message to staffers. “President Trump and his administration have been very supportive of this agency and of me personally which makes this a very difficult decision. My love for this Agency has only complicated the decision further, but for personal reasons it is time. I look forward to spending time with my family.”

Clancy, a career agent who headed the organization’s Presidential Protection Division, was called out of retirement more than two years ago after the service was rocked by a series of high-profile incidents of misconduct and security breaches, including a fence-jumper armed with a knife who made it into the presidential residence before being tackled by agents.
Joseph Clancy, Director of the United States Secret Service, announces his retirement effective March 4.