Head of US Secret Service Randolph Alles out, hot on the heels of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen

The head of the US Secret Service, which guards the president and visiting heads of state, is stepping down, the White House said Monday in the administration’s latest sign of turbulence.

“United States Secret Service director Randolph ‘Tex’ Alles ... will be leaving shortly and President Trump has selected James Murray, a career member of the USSS, to take over as director beginning in May,” Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

No reason was given for Alles’ sudden departure. However, the former Marine general quickly denied that he had been pushed out.

“No doubt you have seen media reports regarding my ‘firing’,” he said in a statement.

“I assure you that this is not the case, and in fact was told weeks ago by the administration that transitions in leadership should be expected across the Department of Homeland Security.”

This appeared aimed at shooting down speculation in the US media that Alles may have been axed in connection to a security incident in March at President Donald Trump’s Florida golf club and weekend retreat.

In the episode, an unauthorised woman got past security carrying Chinese passports and numerous electronic devices, including phones and a thumb drive allegedly found to contain malware.

Other reports said Alles could have lost his job as a result of some twist in the reportedly often heated internal political battles over White House staffing.

On Sunday, Trump announced on Twitter the departure of Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who has spearheaded his controversial policies on trying to stop illegal immigrants and asylum seekers from entering the United States.

Trump said that US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan will become acting secretary.

The Secret Service’s main job is to provide security for the president and vice-president and their families, as well as former presidents and visiting heads of state.

It also coordinates the securing of buildings such as the White House and foreign embassies. The Secret Service was a wing of the US Treasury from its founding in 1865 until 2003, when it came under the ambit of the Department of Homeland Security.

Alles’ departure stems from a personality conflict within the agency, three officials said.

Confirmed in 2017, Alles inherited an agency that had been dealing with a series of security and personnel issues.

Weeks before he was nominated, a man climbed the White House fence and spent 15 minutes roaming the grounds.

Alles’ appointment was set to fulfil the recommendations of a group of former senior government officials that reviewed the Secret Service in 2014 and found that it was an “insular agency” in need of an outsider to lead it.

But Alles’ unfamiliarity with the agency led to conflicts, said the officials.

Additional reporting by Associated Press