Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy testifies on Capitol Hill on March 17, 2015.(Photo: Molly Riley, AP)
WASHINGTON — In his first public remarks concerning the latest incident of Secret Service misconduct, Director Joseph Clancy told a House panel Tuesday that he did not learn of the car accident at the White House complex, in which two senior agents disrupted an ongoing bomb investigation, until five days after the incident.
Clancy, newly installed by President Obama to lead the troubled agency after a series of misconduct and security failures, told a House Appropriations subcommittee that he was "very frustrated'' by the late notice and immediately summoned his management staff.
"It's going to take time to change some of this culture,'' the director said.
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Clancy did not address whether the agents returning from a party were impaired at the time of the March 4 incident, but he said there is "an element in our agency that copes with stresses by using alcohol.''
He described the incident as "my first test'' as director, adding that the two senior agents involved were not given a sobriety test after bumping their government car into an orange barrel marking the perimeter of the then-ongoing investigation.
Lawmakers expressed outrage at the latest incident, questioning whether Clancy's immediate response to yet another lapse was strong enough.
Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, said initial reports of the late night car mishap "knocked me out of my chair.''
Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said continued misconduct "will not stand.'' He characterized the latest incident as part of "a cancer'' that has infected the agency.
"These (incidents) demonstrate how far you've got to go,'' Rogers said, adding that lawmakers intended to keep the agency on a "short string'' as efforts at reform are implemented.
"We expect results,'' he said.
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Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., described Clancy's testimony as "shocking.'' She challenged the new director, saying that it should not take a lot of time to change a troubled culture. She said that some agents should "look for another job.''
"I cannot terminate people this afternoon,'' Clancy responded.
The wave of criticism, however, kept coming, as lawmakers offered blunt assessments of the current state of the beleaguered agency.
"As a former military guy, I am stunned by this environment,'' said Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah.
Stewart said that the assistants who failed to immediately notify Clancy of the recent incident had violated his trust.
"Dude, you don't have to earn their trust,'' Stewart said. "They have to earn your trust.''
Clancy, a career agent who had retired in 2011, was selected as permanent director in February. He had been called back to the agency in October to serve as interim director following the resignation of Julia Pierson, whose short tenure was marked by a continuing pattern of security lapses and agent misconduct that has dogged the agency for the past four years.
With the latest incident coming less than a month into his permanent assignment, Clancy was given little quarter as members repeatedly urged the director to take more aggressive action even before an inquiry by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general was complete.
"I think your chain of command is haywire,'' Carter said. "Work on that.''
Clancy's appearance previously had been scheduled to review the agency's budget priorities. Among its most urgent needs, the director said, was training.
To bolster that effort, in wake of September's unprecedented breach by a fence jumper who ultimately was able to burst through the front door of the mansion, Clancy is requesting the construction of an $8 million replica of the White House at the agency's training center.
Currently, he said, agents undergo training on a parking lot that doesn't allow for a "realistic'' experience.
"We feel it is important to have a true replica of the White House,'' he said.
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