After a series of security incompetence, the director of the Secret Service has stepped down. Julia Pierson, the first female director of the Secret Service, will be replaced in the meantime by Joseph Clancy, a former special agent in charge of the Protective Division of the Secret Service. Security disappointments include an intrusion that let a fence-jumper with a knife run deep into the White House, and a failure to identify an armed security contractor in the same elevator as President Obama.

“It’s clear that our security plan was not properly executed,” Pierson said during a hearing in Capitol Hill. “This is unacceptable and I take full responsibility. And I will make sure that it does not happen again.”

However, her words were met with angry calls from Republicans and high ranking Democrats who urged for the resignation of the now former director, and later welcomed her decision.

Pierson became the director in 2013, after Obama vowed to change the agency after a Colombian prostitution scandal. Several agents took prostitutes in Cartagena, Columbia, and a dispute over payment led to knowledge of the incident. Pierson worked as the chief of staff in 2008 and under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

“It’s clear to me that the only way to solve the problem the Secret Service has is with new leadership,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said.

Graham also said poor security is “the worst possible signal to send to terrorists and our enemies around the world.”

“I can be pretty stoic about it, but not really,” Pierson said. “It’s painful to leave as the agency is reeling from a significant security breach.”

FSA Practice Questions

1. In the article, who resigned?
2. In the piece, the word intrusion means what?
3. The author offers what main idea?
4. What is the connotation of the word “welcomed”?
5. Select one sentence that best summarizes the work.