Obama Chooses Joseph Clancy to Head the Secret Service

President Obama has decided to appoint Joseph P. Clancy, who has guided the Secret Service on an interim basis for the last four months, to lead the agency permanently, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

In appointing Mr. Clancy, a former head of Mr. Obama’s security detail, the president rejected calls from critics on Capitol Hill and members of a special Department of Homeland Security panel that said that a string of mishaps and scandals made it clear that the agency should be run by an outsider.

Had Mr. Obama chosen the other leading candidate for the job — Sean Joyce, a former deputy