You've got problems. You've got a guy jumping the White House fence, running up the steps and actually making it to the stairway that leads to the residence - with a knife on him. That's a problem. You've got a drunk agent crashing into a White House barricade. You've got prostitutes in agents' hotel rooms . . . yeah, you've got problems, Secret Service.
So you get a new director. OK. You pretty much had to do that. And then you start hiring a bunch of new agents as quickly as you can, because hey, they're not the old agents. And that has to be better, right?
I don't know if you've thought of this, but the nature of their job puts a lot of Secret Service agents in a position to see and hear very sensitive, classified information. That being the case, before you can take an assignment like that, you're supposed to get security clearance. Given the problems the agency has had of late, you'd think this would be a no-brainer for the new boss - something you'd make sure didn't get overlooked lest you invite a bunch of new problems on top of the old.
Yeah, about that . . .
A rush to recruit additional Secret Service officers in the wake of numerous White House security lapses has led to a new problem: Several dozen of the fresh arrivals have been posted in sensitive positions without completing the required national security clearance process, according to two government officials familiar with the situation.
Secret Service Director Joseph P. Clancy acknowledged the problem last week during a private conversation with Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). The lawmaker had raised the issue after hearing from a whistleblower who alleged that newly hired officers had been present for White House meetings in which classified material was shared, Meadows told The Washington Post.
Clancy promised to fix the situation as soon as possible, a Secret Service official said Tuesday. The official said the agency is struggling to work through an "administrative backlog" in issuing security clearances with the higher-than-normal volume of new hires.
The hiring push began after an incident last September in which a manjumped the White House fence, ran through the mansion's front door and raced through much of the main floor. The breach was an embarrassment for the Secret Service and prompted lawmakers and security experts to call for beefing up protection for the compound and the first family.
Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said Tuesday that Clancy has put additional administrative staff to work on the backlog and that all outstanding clearances will be issued by Friday.
Well this sounds like a serious commitment to speed things up and solve the problem, but . . . if they hadn't done the due diligence necessary to issue the clearances before making the assignments in the first place, how can they be sure that everyone who needs one is eligible to get one? Are they rushing a process that really can't and shouldn't be rushed for the purpose of crossing something off a list so they can say they did it?
The political world often has a tendency to want to appear effective by acting quickly, rather than being truly effective by doing the right things. If they could really get security clearances done by Friday, what was the reason for putting these guys in sensitive assignments ahead of that? Maybe so you could tell congressional investigators you were moving with alacrity? So the new guy could look like he's taken the bull by the horns and he's making things happen?
I really used to think the Secret Service was regarded as too important an agency for politicians to allow to be screwed up with hack appointments and slipshod processes. As little confidence as I have in the modern-day federal government, even I was surprised to learn how badly the Secret Service was being run. And apparently it's not going to be easy to fix. At least for the people they've put in charge of fixing it.
You've got problems. You've got a guy jumping the White House fence, running up the steps and actually making it to the stairway that leads to the residence - with a knife on him. That's a problem. You've got a drunk agent crashing into a White House barricade. You've got prostitutes in agents' hotel rooms . . . yeah, you've got problems, Secret Service.
So you get a new director. OK. You pretty much had to do that. And then you start hiring a bunch of new agents as quickly as you can, because hey, they're not the old agents. And that has to be better, right?
