Julia Pierson, director of the Secret Service, has stepped down from her post amidst increasing scrutiny on the agents responsible for protecting the safety of the president and first family.

Julia Pierson Resigns

Pierson’s retirement was announced in a statement by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, reported CBS News. Johnson revealed that not only has he accepted Pierson’s offer of resignation, but has already found an interim replacement in former Secret Service agent Joseph Clancy.

"Today Julia Pierson, the Director of the United States Secret Service, offered her resignation, and I accepted it. I salute her 30 years of distinguished service to the Secret Service and the Nation," read Johnson’s statement. "As an interim Acting Director of the Secret Service, I am appointing Joseph Clancy, formerly Special Agent in Charge of the Presidential Protective Division of the Secret Service. Mr. Clancy retired from the Secret Service in 2011. I appreciate his willingness to leave his position in the private sector on very short notice and return to public service for a period."

On Tuesday, Pierson was met with a fair amount of criticism during a congressional hearing regarding Omar Gonzalez’s breach of the White House grounds. During the hearing, Pierson was hammered on details of the incident, including how Gonzalez managed to get past five rings of security, passed the staircase that leads up to the Obama family’s private residence and into the East Room before an off-duty Secret Service agent managed to apprehend him.

In response to the criticism, Pierson admitted, “It’s clear that our security plan was not properly executed. I take full responsibility. What happened is unacceptable, and it will never happen again.”

Despite Pierson’s admission of responsibility and vows to improve security going forward, politicians on both sides of the aisle felt that it might be time for Pierson to resign from her post. The Gonzalez incident served to unearth two previous incidents that further troubled lawmakers – gunfire hitting the White House in 2011 (which the Secret Service did not realize until four days after the shots were fired) and an armed security contractor with 3 assault and battery charges on his record riding an elevator with President Barack Obama on Sept. 16 in Atlanta.

"The president should fire her or at least she should resign,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) told Bloomberg News.

"I want her to go if she cannot restore trust in the agency, and if she cannot get the culture back in order," Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md), told CNN Wednesday. "I told her that she's got a tall order there."

Pierson took over the post of Secret Service Director in March 2013 following Mark Sullivan’s retirement. Pierson previously served as the Secret Service Chief of Staff from 2008 until she was promoted to the director position.