Obama picks Clancy as Secret Service director

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has chosen the former special agent he asked to temporarily run the troubled Secret Service to take over as director.

The White House said Joe Clancy will fill the position after four months as acting director. Clancy, former head of the service's presidential protective division, was appointed on an interim basis in a hurry last year after then-Director Julia Pierson was forced out in the wake of a host of security breaches.

An independent panel tasked with reviewing the agency and making recommendations for improvements concluded earlier this year that agency was too "insular" and "starving for leadership."

They also recommended hiring an agency outsider as the next director. Last month, four of the agency's highest-ranking officials were reassigned in response to the mishaps.

"The next director will have to make difficult choices, identifying clear priorities for the organization and holding management accountable for any failure to achieve those priorities," the panel said after interviewing 50 Secret Service employees.