Secret Service deputy chief stepping down

Matt Quinn, the deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), announced Friday he was stepping down after a year-and-a-half in the role.

Quinn said in a statement posted to social platform X he has been working with Secret Service Director Sean Curran on a transition plan for his role “for months now.”

The deputy chief told NewsNation , The Hill’s broadcast partner, he is resigning from the post to spend more time with his family. His last day will be Nov. 7.

In a letter sent to Secret Service staff Friday obtained by NewsNation , Quinn called his 18 months in the role “the most rewarding of my career” and said stepping down was “not an easy decision.”

Quinn became the USSS’s deputy director after previously retiring from the agency following over two decades of work with them. He said in his departure note to staff that returning to the service had never been a long-term plan and that he informed Curran that “one of my goals was to work myself out of this job as quickly as possible.”

The deputy chief expressed confidence the agency is “well-positioned for the future.”

“The Secret Service has a long history of promoting from within, and I strongly believe that legacy is a positive one for the organization,” he wrote in his letter. “I wanted to help ensure that the Secret Service would never feel the need to look outside the organization to fill the Deputy Director role again. I know we have accomplished that goal.”

It is not yet clear who will replace Quinn in this role. The Hill has reached out to the Secret Service for comment.

In a joint “ 60 Minutes ” interview with Curran released earlier this week, Quinn addressed the rising number of threats the USSS has investigated this year. In July, the service’s director said it had opened over 10,000 investigations into threats made against its protectees — around a 40 percent increase from that time last year.

“I think the biggest factor we’re dealing with today is mental health issues for sure,” Quinn told CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell when asked specifically about threats made against President Trump. “And more people are being pushed over the edge in either direction.”

Quinn’s departure coincides with several high-profile departures within the Trump administration this week.

On Friday, the White House announced its newly appointed press secretary, Katie Zacharia, would leave her post after only five days amid scrutiny over her legal qualifications and preparedness for the position. Former U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle similarly resigned Tuesday after Trump requested she step down following criticism over her relationship with a GOP donor.