President Trump on Wednesday named Sean Curran to serve as director of the U.S. Secret Service.
In a post to his Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump said Curran is “a Great Patriot, who has protected my family over the past few years, and that is why I trust him to lead the Brave Men and Women of the United States Secret Service.”
Curran previously served as the special agent in charge of Trump’s security detail for four years and sprung to cover him on stage during the first assassination attempt against him on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. In his role leading the former president’s protective team, he oversaw 85 personnel.
“He proved his fearless courage when he risked his own life to help save mine from an assassin’s bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania,” Trump wrote Wednesday.
Curran first joined the agency in September 2001, and was promoted to deputy special agent in charge of the Presidential Protective Detail on Dec. 29. That unit, boasting hundreds of agents, is charged with protecting the current president and the first family.
Trump’s pick spurns the recommendations of two bipartisan commissions who recommended in 2015 and earlier this year that the next president choose someone outside the agency to serve as director.
Unlike other cabinet positions or the FBI director, appointment to lead the Secret Service requires no Senate confirmation vote.
Curran will replace Ron Rowe, who has filled the role of acting director since July, when Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle stepped down following harsh backlash for the agency’s failure to prevent a would-be assassin from targeting Trump during a campaign rally, plus injuring two rally-goers and killing 50-year-old attendee Cory Comperatore.
The top-ranking position will be Curran’s first job at the service’s headquarters. He is currently not a member of the Senior Executive Service, comprising the highest ranking officials within the agency.
