Obama picks Secret Service insider Joseph Clancy to lead troubled agency
Obama picks Secret Service insider Joseph Clancy to lead troubled agency
(about 3 hours later)
President Obama has named his acting director and trusted former detail leader Joseph Clancy as the new permanent leader of the Secret Service, the White House said Wednesday.
President Obama on Wednesday named his acting director and trusted former protective detail leader Joseph Clancy as the new permanent head of the Secret Service, choosing a longtime insider despite calls from Congress for fresh management of the agency.
Clancy, 59, has led the agency for the past four months since being asked by the president to replace Julia Pierson, who resigned Oct. 1 amid a series of major security lapses. He had emerged as the likely choice for the full-time role last week, when the administration officials informed candidates that the president had made a selection.
Clancy, 59, a 27-year veteran of the Secret Service, has been in charge for the past four months since Obama asked him to replace former director Julia Pierson, who resigned in October amid a series of major security lapses. He had emerged as the likely choice for the permanent role last week over several outside candidates.
Among the challenges for Clancy will be to determine how to secure the perimeter of the White House complex, in the wake of an intruder bursting past several layers of security last fall and a small drone aircraft landing on the lawn last month. The new director also will be charged with overseeing the massive security operation of protecting the candidates in the 2016 presidential race, through the primaries and the general election.
Among the challenges for Clancy will be to determine how to secure the perimeter of the White House complex after an intruder burst past security last fall and a small drone aircraft landed on the lawn last month. The new director also will be charged with overseeing the massive security operation of protecting the candidates in the 2016 presidential race.
Clancy, who retired as Obama’s detail leader in 2011 for a job as security director for Comcast in his hometown of Philadelphia, had made clear to associates that he would like to have the job permanently. He had never worked in the Secret Service headquarters until the president summoned him back to Washington last fall to temporarily take the helm at the agency in a moment of crisis.
Clancy grew close to Obama while working as the president’s first protective detail leader from 2009 until he retired in 2011 for a job as security director for Comcast in his home town of Philadelphia. He had never been based in the Secret Service headquarters until the president summoned him back to Washington last fall.
His selection goes against the advice of an independent panel, appointed by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh C. Johnson to examine the security failures, that recommended the agency name an outsider to the top job for the first time in the 150-year history of the Secret Service.
His selection, which does not require congressional approval, goes against the advice of an independent panel, appointed last fall by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to examine the security failures. That panel recommended the agency name an outsider to the top job for the first time in the Secret Service’s 150-year history.
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.
The association that represents many rank-and-file agents and officers also issued a statement supporting Clancy’s appointment.
[RELATED: Panel calls for deep changes at the Secret Service]
[RELATED: Panel calls for deep changes at the Secret Service]
But Obama signaled to associates that his trust in Clancy trumped other concerns.
The series of humiliating security lapses that preceded Clancy’s return included revelations of a botched Secret Service investigation of a shooting at the White House in late 2011 and that a private security officer with a concealed handgun had been on an elevator last fall with Obama, which is against the agency’s procedures.
The series of humiliating security lapses that preceded Clancy’s return included the intruder who was able to get deep inside the White House and revelations of a botched Secret Service investigation of a shooting at the White House in late 2011.
Since taking over as acting director, Clancy has enacted major changes recommended by the outside panel. He arranged the ouster of numerous top agency leaders who had been criticized as insular and lacking a strategy to address changing threats after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
Since taking over as acting director, Clancy has served as both a calming and fast-acting presence. He has assured nervous lawmakers and an anxious first family that he is on top of the security gaps and staffing shortages that raised doubts about the Secret Service’s ability to protect the president.
Many of the people Clancy pushed out, including the influential deputy director, were his longtime co-workers, including people who once were his bosses.
Under some pressure to act from the Department of Homeland Security, Clancy arranged the ouster of the majority of top leaders at the Secret Service headquarters, who had been criticized as insular and lacking a vision for moving the agency into the 21st century and addressing post-Sept. 11 threats. Many of the people he pushed out, including the powerful deputy director, were longtime friends, fellow detail co-workers — and even onetime bosses.
“His willingness to use his credibility in the agency to implement the reforms is the best of both worlds,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday.
“Mr. Clancy has demonstrated a willingness to conduct a candid, clear-eyed assessment of the shortcomings of that agency, and that’s precisely why he was promoted to the permanent role,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday. “His willingness to use his credibility in the agency to implement the reforms is the best of both worlds.”
People familiar with the selection process said that the agency expects Clancy to serve as director through Obama’s term, which ends in January 2017, but they said he is unlikely to serve much beyond that. He will turn 60 this year, the agency’s typical retirement age.
Earnest added that it was not a foregone conclusion that Clancy would be tapped for the permanent role after he replaced Pierson.
Agents praised Clancy as a professional and compassionate supervisor, but they also complained that the recent leadership shake-up resulted in no new managers from outside the agency.
“His solid performance last month in implementing the needed changes in the agency served him well,” he said.
Of the seven top officials who were ousted or announced their retirement, five have been replaced so far — each by a longtime employee on the next rung of management who has spent at least two decades in the Secret Service.
It is somewhat common for presidents to name one of their detail leaders as the director of the Service, former agents and officials said. People familiar with the selection process said that the agency expects Clancy to serve as director through Obama’s term, which ends in January 2017. Clancy already retired once and would turn 60 during his tenure, the typical retirement age in the agency.
Jonathan Wackrow, a former member of the presidential protective detail who left last year, praised Clancy as one of the kindest, most ethical people in the Secret Service, but added: “Seeing that he has surrounded himself by people who are comfortable with the status quo, I would not look for any big things to come from this agency.
Reaction to Obama’s decision from a congressional oversight panel that has closely scrutinized the Secret Service’s failings was mixed Wednesday.
“What just happened is that the president just further institutionalized the archaic methodology of this agency.”
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the choice leaves the Secret Service without a bold outside leader with new ideas that the independent administration panel said was key to reform at the beleaguered agency.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he was impressed by Clancy’s effort to answer lawmakers’ questions and promptly address security concerns. But he called the choice “disappointing” because Obama “ignored the recommendation from the independent panel” to select an outsider.
But Chaffetz emphasized that he was impressed by Clancy’s effort to answer lawmakers’ questions and address dire security problems quickly.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), the congressional committee’s ranking Democrat, said Clancy had been “extremely responsive” and “his decisive leadership has already resulted in major changes.”
“It is disappointing the president ignored the recommendation from the independent panel. . .to select a director from outside the Secret Service,” he said. “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.’ ”
Joe Hagin, a deputy chief of staff under President George W. Bush and a member of the independent panel that reviewed the Secret Service last fall, called Clancy a “consummate professional” and said the most important criteria is that Obama and his family have personal trust in the director.
But Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), the congressional panel’s ranking Democrat, cheered the choice, saying Clancy had been “extremely responsive.”
“He’s also been in the private sector and seen different management styles,” Hagin said of Clancy. “One reason the panel recommended an outsider is that it’s difficult to take tough action against colleagues and friends. Joe has in the last few weeks done just that. He’s taken very difficult and tough personnel decisions. That’s what they need.”
“His decisive leadership has already resulted in major changes,” Cummings said. “I look forward to working with him closely over the next year to ensure that the Secret Service gets what it needs to fulfill its critical mission.”
Joe Hagin, a deputy chief of staff under President George W. Bush and a member of the independent panel, called Clancy a “consummate professional” and said that the most important factor for a president is that he and his family trust the Secret Service director.
Clancy has been described by associates as a no-nonsense agent who made up in dedication what he may have lacked in flamboyance. His nickname is “Father Joe,” a reference to the legend that he considered becoming a priest before he joined the Secret Service, though some suggested the moniker was apocryphal.
Hagin, who knew Clancy when he was on Bush’s detail, said Clancy’s work at Comcast gives him some outside perspective.
“He’s also been in the private sector and seen different management styles,” said Hagin, who now works at Command Consulting in Washington. “He’s had experiences beyond his career in the Secret Service, and that’s very valuable.”
Before Obama took office, when Clancy was the deputy special agent in charge under Bush, he worked out of a ground-floor office at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House. He oversaw an operation that included snipers on the roof, a heavily armed SWAT team that patrols the grounds, gate officers, canine units and security cameras.
Hagin added that “one reason the panel recommended an outsider is that it’s difficult to take tough action against colleagues and friends. Joe has in the last few weeks done just that. He’s taken very difficult and tough personnel decisions. That’s what they need.”
