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Top Republican wants big changes at Secret Service
02:12 - Source: CNN
Washington CNN  — 

The Secret Service is still cleaning house.

The latest departure is the Deputy Director of the U.S. Secret Service, A.T. Smith, who is stepping aside for another position within the Department of Homeland Security, according to the agency.

Smith has served in the position since 2012 and was responsible for oversight of the agency’s daily operations. According to his biography, Smith’s career with the Secret Service began in 1986 as a special agent in the Miami field office.

“Deputy Director Smith has had an exceptional law enforcement career spanning nearly 29 years within the United States Secret Service. His contributions to the Agency have been invaluable,” Secret Service Acting Director Joseph Clancy said in a statement Monday.

This action comes as the Secret Services faces intense scrutiny for a series of high-profile security breaches.

Secret Service Director Julia Pierson resigned in September, following a fence-jumper gaining access to the East Room of the White House on Sept. 19.

Earlier in September, an armed security contractor was allowed to get into an elevator with the President during a trip to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

As recently as January, the agency faced another lapse as a small drone landed on the South Lawn of the property.

An independent report released in December found that the Secret Service is stretched “beyond its limits,” needing more training, more staff, and a director from outside its ranks.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union that a new Director of the Secret Service will be selected “pretty soon.”