U.S. Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy announced his retirement on Tuesday, opening the door for President Trump to choose his next security chief.
Clancy was the head of President Obama's protective detail before he became acting director of the Secret Service in October 2014 and was then sworn in as permanent director in February 2015. Clancy was chosen to lead the agency in the midst of several scandals, including security breaches and employee misconduct.
"The success of the Secret Service is achieved with great sacrifice by all of you and your families," Clancy wrote in a letter to staff obtained by CNN. "Please accept my sincere and heartfelt thanks for your dedication to our mission. You have inspired me. My hope was that I could return your gifts of inspiration with some measure of good for the Secret Service."
"My love for this agency has only complicated the decision further, but for personal reasons it is time. I look forward to spending time with my family," Clancy wrote, noting that his retirement was effective March 4.
While he was president, Obama was pressured by an expert panel and congressional Republicans to choose an outsider to lead the agency but decided on Clancy instead, according to the Washington Post.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, hopes that Trump will fulfill the past wishes of the panel and House Republicans.
"A fresh set of eyes and new perspective is needed to restore the prestige and status expected of such an elite agency," he said in a statement.
But several names of insiders are being floated that Trump could potentially choose to fill the post. Among the potential contenders to succeed Clancy are George Mulligan, the agency's current chief operating officer; Larry Cockle, who lead the Clinton administration's security detail; Mickey Nelson, a former assistant director; and William Callahan, the newly promoted deputy director.
In a previous interview with CNN, Clancy said there was no friction between the Secret Service and Trump's private security.
Clancy has said that the proudest moment of his tenure was protecting Pope Francis on a four-city tour to America, while also protecting over 150 foreign dignitaries who were in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
Clancy is a 27-year veteran of the Secret Service.