Joseph Clancy, the director of the Secret Service, is retiring. | Getty Secret Service director Joseph Clancy to retire

Joseph P. Clancy, the director of the Secret Service, is retiring after a cumulative total of 29 years at the agency, the Secret Service announced Tuesday.

Clancy will step down March 4. He joined the Secret Service in 1984 and became the leader of Obama’s detail in 2009, before initially retiring in 2011.


He returned as interim director in 2014 to address a series of security breaches and agent misconduct. Obama named him the permanent director against the advice of an expert panel who recommended the president hire an outsider for the position.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) 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 Utah representative also encouraged Trump to appoint a new director 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," he said.

