President Donald Trump has named a new director for the US Secret Service, the beleaguered agency tasked with protecting the president and his family.

Trump chose retired Marine Corps general Randolph "Tex" Alles to oversee the agency that has been beset with a series of high-profile controversies.

Alles, who is the first Secret Service director not chosen from within the ranks in recent history, is replacing Joseph Clancy who joined the service in 1984.

Clancy became the leader of former President Barack Obama’s security detail in 2009, before initially retiring in 2011 from that post.

Alles, on the other hand, served in the Marine Corps for 35 years, but has recently been working as the acting deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. He also oversaw the agency's air and marine division.

Key members of Congress have welcomed Trump’s appointment which does not need Senate confirmation.

"Appointing a director from the outside adds a necessary new perspective and fresh approach to their zero-fail mission," House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said in a statement. "I look forward to working with General Alles in continuing to implement recommendations put forth in our bipartisan Committee report."

Alles will lead an agency that has dealt with a series of security breaches and incidents of its agents engaging in misconduct.

Last month, a man jumped the White House fence and roamed the grounds for more than fifteen minutes before he was arrested.

He managed to climb a five-foot fence as well as an eight-foot gate and jump over another fence near the southeast corner of the White House's East Wing before he was captured.

This was not the first time that a person entered the White House grounds. In September 2014, an Army veteran carrying a knife, climbed the fence and made it through the north portico doors, while the first family was not at the White House.

Also in April 2015, the Secret Service placed a supervisor on administrative leave and suspended his security clearance after a female agent had accused him of sexually assaulting her.

Xavier Morales, a senior supervisor of the security clearance division, allegedly made the advance on a female subordinate on the night of March 31, the same year.