The interim director of the U.S. Secret Service told Congress that his agency had been "severely damaged in recent years by failures."

CNN reported Joe Clancy, who has led the service since the Oct. 1 resignation of his predecessor, appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Lawmakers grilled Clancy about a number of embarrassing episodes, including one involving a fence jumper who was able to run inside the White House two months ago.

"I openly acknowledge that a failure of this magnitude, especially in light of other recent incidents, requires immediate action and longer term reform," Clancy said.

The Department of Homeland Security last week published a report "revealing failures in training, equipment and communications at the agency," as reported by CNN. The Secret Service, which had long been controlled by the Department of the Treasury, was transferred to Homeland Security in 2003.

Steve Cohen, a Democratic congressman from Tennessee, joked that the fence jumper "got further in the White House than some of my Republican colleagues have ever gotten" and asked whether a moat might ameliorate the issue.

Clancy replied that the Secret Service was taking into account the accessibility and historic nature of the White House as it is assessing additional steps to protect the executive mansion.

The breach was but one in "a series of incidents" for which the Secret Service has been criticized in recent years, USA Today recalled, pointed to the service's "delayed response to a 2011 shooting outside the White House," as well as the Cartegena, Colombia scandal involving prostitutes in 2012. Also, "agents' failure earlier this year to properly secure an elevator at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (where) an armed private security officer was allowed in close proximity to President (Barack) Obama" was noted.

Last month, then-Secret Service Director Julia Pierson took the fall for the embarrassments and resigned from her position. Obama then appointed Clancy, who had served as head of its presidential protection division until 2011, as the agency's interim head.

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