The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders,their families,and visiting heads of state or government. Until 2003,the Secret Service was part of the Department of the Treasury,as the agency was founded in 1865 to combat the then-widespread counterfeiting of U.S. currency. President Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation on April 14,1865,just a few hours before he was assassinated. In 1901,the Secret Service was also assigned to presidential protection duties.
The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency,which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community.
Mark J. Sullivan is a former federal law enforcement agent who served as the 22nd Director of the United States Secret Service from May 31,2006,to March 27,2013. Sullivan succeeded W. Ralph Basham and was succeeded by Julia Pierson.
Lewis Carlo Merletti was the 19th Director of the United States Secret Service. He succeeded Eljay B. Bowron,and was sworn in on June 6,1997,by the Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin. A 25-year veteran of the United States Secret Service,Merletti has also served as Assistant Director in the Office of Training,and as the Special Agent in Charge of the Presidential Protection Division.
Kimberly Teehee is a Native American attorney,politician,and activist on Native American issues. She is a Delegate-designate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Cherokee Nation. She served as senior policy advisor for Native American affairs in the administration of President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2012. In February 2020,she was named by Time as one of 16 activists fighting for a "More Equal America."
Julia Ann Pierson is an American former law enforcement official. She served as the 23rd Director of the United States Secret Service. Pierson became director on March 27,2013. Amid a series of security lapses involving the agency,Pierson resigned on October 1,2014.
Avril Danica Haines is an American lawyer and senior government official who serves as the director of national intelligence in the Biden administration. She is the first woman to serve in this role. Haines previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor and Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the Obama administration. Prior to her appointment to the CIA,she served as Deputy Counsel to the President for National Security Affairs in the Office of White House Counsel.
Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan is an American attorney who currently serves as the United States National Security Advisor,reporting directly to President Joe Biden. He previously served as Director of Policy to President Barack Obama,National Security Advisor to then Vice President Biden and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary Hillary Clinton at the U.S. Department of State. Sullivan also served as senior advisor to the U.S. federal government at the Iran nuclear negotiations and senior policy advisor to Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign,as well as visiting professor at Yale Law School.
Joseph "Joe" P. Clancy is an American law enforcement official. He was the 24th Director of the United States Secret Service. Clancy previously served as head of the agency's presidential protection division until 2011,when he retired and became director of corporate security for Comcast.
James M. Murray is an American law enforcement officer who served as the 26th director of the United States Secret Service.
Joe Biden assumed office as President of the United States on January 20,2021. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Julie Chávez Rodriguez is an American political rights activist and campaign manager for President Joe Biden's 2024 re-election campaign.
The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7,2020,and ended on January 20,2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions,which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week of November and the inauguration on January 20,Biden's presidential transition was shortened somewhat because the General Services Administration under the outgoing Trump administration did not recognize Biden as the "apparent winner" until November 23.
David Cho is a former U.S. Secret Service agent who was the Special Agent In Charge of the Presidential Protective Division detail for U.S. President Joe Biden. Prior to the Biden Administration,Cho served as leader of the Presidential Protective Division detail for President Donald Trump.
Brett Michael Holmgren is an American intelligence official serving as assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research in the Biden administration.
Christine Sandra Abizaid is an American intelligence officer who is the director of the National Counterterrorism Center in the Biden administration.
Michael J. Adler is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to South Sudan since 2022.
Anthony M. Ornato is the former assistant director of the United States Secret Service Office of Training. He was the service's deputy assistant director who headed the security detail of president Donald Trump until taking a leave of absence when the president named him White House Deputy Chief of Staff for operations in December 2019. After his tenure as a political appointee in the Trump administration,he returned to the Secret Service where he worked as the assistant director in the office of training until August 29,2022.
