Randolph Alles was elevated to Secret Service director in April 2017 following a series of security breaches shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images white house Secret Service director out as part of Trump shakeup The apparent ouster comes one day after Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned.

U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph Alles is leaving the administration, the White House said Monday, amounting to President Donald Trump's second shakeup at the Department of Homeland Security in as many days.

In a statement, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders praised the "great job" Alles had done since he was tapped for the post in 2017 and said that Trump "is thankful for his over 40 years of service to the country."


"Mr. Alles will be leaving shortly and President Trump has selected James M. Murray, a career member of the USSS, to take over as director beginning in May," she said.

Alles’ departure comes less than 24 hours after DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned and a little more than a week after a Chinese national was arrested for trespassing at the president’s Mar-A-Lago resort.

Speaking to reporters just days after news of the breach broke, Trump lavished praise on the Secret Service.

“I would say I could not be happier with Secret Service,” he said last Wednesday. “Secret Service has done a fantastic job from day one. Very happy with them.”

Alles, in a message to Secret Service employees, said media reports had mischaracterized his departure.

“No doubt you have seen media reports regarding my 'firing.' I assure you that this is not the case, and in fact was told weeks ago by the Administration that transitions in leadership should be expected across the Department of Homeland Security," Alles said. "The President has directed an orderly transition in leadership for this agency and I intend to abide by that direction."

Alles was elevated to Secret Service director in April 2017 following a series of security breaches shortly after Trump’s inauguration. He had previously served as acting deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and entered the federal government after serving in the Marine Corps for more than three decades.

Trump’s removal of his Secret Service director, a position under the DHS umbrella, comes amid a broader reshuffling by the president in order to clamp down on immigration. On Friday, he withdrew his nominee to head U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, citing the desire to go in a “tougher direction.”

And Stephen Miller, one of the president's top immigration advisers, has been looking for a wider purge at the agency in order to push Trump's hardline immigration policies.

Miller has also been pushing for the ouster of Lee Francis Cissna, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, who has overseen implementation of some of the administration’s lesser-known immigration policies. “He’s actively trying to put in place people who have very different points of view than the current leadership within the agencies,” said a former DHS official familiar with Miller’s efforts. “His idea is basically [to] clean house.”

Miller appears to also have played a role in Trump’s abrupt move to withdraw Vitiello's nomination. “He thinks we can be tougher — that if we only can do more tough talk this may stop,” said another person close to DHS.

Eliana Johnson contributed to this report.