Joe Clancy , the interim director of the U.S. Secret Service , said that the agency has been `` severely damaged in recent years by failures '' and explained some key mistakes made by the Secret Service when a fence jumper was able to run inside the White House two months ago . In his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday , Clancy , who was tapped to lead the agency last month , also laid out protocols the Secret Service is trying to improve in the wake of the fence jumper and other problems in the past few years . `` I openly acknowledge that a failure of this magnitude , especially in light of other recent incidents , requires immediate action and longer term reform , '' he said . His appearance comes a week after the Department of Homeland Security published a report revealing failures in training , equipment and communications at the agency . Clancy said when the jumper , Omar Gonzalez , started to scale the fence , officers nearby outside the barrier started shouting verbal commands before sprinting over and coming `` about an arm 's length or two arms ' lengths short of reaching him '' before he breached the fence . Rep. Steve Cohen , D-Tennessee , joked that Gonzalez `` got further in the White House than some of my Republican colleagues have ever gotten . '' He asked if a moat would be effective in stopping future White House jumpers . `` Sir , it may be , '' Clancy replied , but added the Secret Service tries to recognize the accessibility and historic nature of the White House . Their first step , Clancy continued , is working with the National Park Service to `` do something with the fence , '' including possibly making it taller . In the short term , Clancy said a bike rack now sits in front of the fence to provide one extra obstacle . Pressed on whether anyone at the agency was punished for violating protocol in the incident , Clancy said `` this was not an intentional violation of the code '' and no discipline was given . Clancy was chosen for the job after former Secret Service Director Julia Pierson resigned in the wake of the fence jumping incident as well as a string of controversies involving the agency in recent years . One of those included a shooting incident that happened on November 11 , 2011 , in which it took days for the Secret Service to confirm that there were , in fact , evidence of bullet impacts on the White house faÃ§ade . Clancy said in his remarks that there are new fixes to improve and better enforce policies regarding those in close contact with the president . This comes after Obama was -- unknowingly -- in an elevator with an armed contractor at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta back in September . After working under former President George W. Bush , Clancy worked with the President and first lady Michelle Obama on outlining a plan of action to protect their daughters . He then entered the private sector as executive director of Comcast Cable Security . He left after three years for his current role as the Secret Service 's interim director .
Joe Clancy promises a bottom-to-top assessment of the troubled agency . Clancy was brought in after former Director Julia Pierson resigned last month . Rep. Steve Cohen suggested that a moat around the White House might help .