The Trump administration has settled on a new appointment to lead the agency charged with protecting the president.
Randolph “Tex” Alles, who currently serves as acting deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, was announced today by the White House as its pick to head the Secret Service.
Selecting an outsider as director is a big shift for the insular agency, which has long promoted its leaders through the ranks.
Alles was appointed to his post with the CBP on the same day Trump was sworn in as president. As its acting deputy commissioner, he serves as its chief operating officer.
Alles previously led the CBP’s unit for air and marine operations. He began his work with the agency in 2011 after he retired as a major general from the Marine Corps, in which he served for 35 years.
The new Secret Service director will take over an agency that in recent years has dealt with a handful of security breaches and incidents of its agents engaging in misconduct.
On March 10, an intruder scaled the White House fence and was on the grounds for approximately 16 minutes before he was arrested. Court documents filed after the incident showed that the man was carrying two cans of mace. The incident prompted a review, and as a result, the Secret Service let go of two of its agents who were on duty that night.
The agency announced last week that it will permanently restrict public access to the sidewalk along the White House’s southern fence, popular with tourists, as a way of reducing the risk of people trying to jump the fence.
Earlier this month, a Secret Service agent who was part of Vice President Mike Pence’s security detail was placed on administrative leave after being arrested for allegedly soliciting a prostitute, a law enforcement source told ABC News.
The arrest occurred at the end of March in Maryland, according to the source, and the Secret Service confirmed to ABC News it was investigating the alleged incident.
Joe Clancy, who was appointed by President Obama in 2015, was the director of the Secret Service until he stepped down on March 4 of this year. William Callahan has been the agency’s acting director since then.
