No. 2 in Secret Service Loses Job in Agency Shakeup

The second in command at the Secret Service is leaving his post, right before he was supposed to testify before lawmakers in the House.

According to a Monday press release from the agency, the 29-year veteran of the agency, Deputy Director A.T. Smith, is being moved to "another position within the Department of Homeland Security," the department under which the Secret Service operates, The Wall Street Journal is reporting.

The move comes after both Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, ranking members on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, put pressure on the agency to make changes to the leadership.

In October 2014, it was reported that Smith was involved in sending several agents to assist a Secret Service employee with a domestic matter, which involved the agents leaving their posts at the White House to do so.

Chaffetz, who is the new chairman of the committee, called for Smith to be fired following the report. Smith has been at the post since 2012.

"Last week, we met jointly with the White House Counsel and the Department of Homeland Security and expressed our shared conviction that the Secret Service needs to turn the page with respect to its senior leadership," Chaffetz and Cummings said in a joint statement.

"We commend the Department for its numerous personnel actions last month, as well as its recent decision to transfer the Deputy Director out of the agency," they added.

Smith's departure comes after Secret Service Director Julia Pierson resigned last October after the White House was breached when a man jumped the fence and made it inside the building.

Four other top officials at the Secret Service were removed from their posts in January.

Related Stories:

• Rep. Chaffetz: Pick New Director From Outside Secret Service
  
• Report: Expanded Role After 9/11 Led to Secret Service Lapses