Matt Quinn is stepping down as Secret Service deputy director after 18 months, saying he finished the job of restoring internal promotion and now wants more time with family.

The Hill reported Friday that Matt Quinn announced he will leave the No. 2 post at the U.S. Secret Service, with his last day set for Nov. 7.

Quinn told NewsNation he is resigning to spend more time with his family. He also posted that he has been working with Secret Service Director Sean Curran on a transition plan “for months now.”

In a letter to staff obtained by NewsNation, Quinn called the stretch “the most rewarding of my career” and said the choice was “not an easy decision.” He had already retired once after more than two decades with the agency. Coming back, he wrote, was never meant to be permanent.

Quinn says he worked himself out of the job on purpose

Quinn told Curran early that he intended to make the deputy role unnecessary for an outside hire. He wanted the service to promote from its own ranks again.

"One of my goals was to work myself out of this job as quickly as possible."

He framed that aim as success, not retreat. The Secret Service, he wrote, has a long history of elevating people from inside the organization, and he called that legacy a strength.

"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."

Quinn also said the agency is “well-positioned for the future.” No successor has been named. The Hill said it sought comment from the service.

Leadership turnover is not rare in Washington. Similar exits have marked other corners of the government, including when Kurt Olsen resigned from a DOJ role tied to a Florida probe.

Threats against protectees keep climbing

Quinn’s departure lands while the service is dealing with a sharp rise in threats. In July, Curran said the agency had opened more than 10,000 investigations into threats against its protectees, roughly a 40 percent jump from the year before.

Earlier this week, Quinn and Curran appeared together on 60 Minutes. Asked about threats aimed at President Trump, Quinn pointed to mental health as the main driver.

"I think the biggest factor we’re dealing with today is mental health issues for sure. And more people are being pushed over the edge in either direction."

That caseload is the daily reality for the men and women who guard the president and other protectees. Quinn’s exit comes as the service tries to keep that protective mission steady while it fills the deputy slot from within.

The same protective agency has faced other personnel headaches, including a Secret Service agent in Miami facing felony charges after a hazing case left two men badly hurt.

A short return built around succession

Quinn’s path was unusual. He left after a long career, then came back at the top of the chain. He told staff the return was never a long-term plan. The point, in his account, was to stabilize the deputy job and hand it back to career talent.

He spent months lining up that handoff with Curran before the public announcement. The letter went out Friday. The X statement went out the same day. The calendar now runs to Nov. 7.

Other high-profile departures have moved on different clocks and under different pressure. The Smithsonian secretary retired under White House pressure even as Chief Justice Roberts praised his tenure. Quinn’s letter reads as the opposite: a planned wind-down he says he set in motion himself.

Friday also brought separate personnel news at the White House. Newly appointed press secretary Katie Zacharia was out after only five days amid questions about her legal qualifications. Former Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned Tuesday after President Trump asked her to step down following criticism of her relationship with a GOP donor. Those moves sat in the same news cycle; they were not presented as the reason for Quinn’s exit.

Cabinet-level and senior exits can follow misconduct findings or political strain, as when an inspector general found ex-Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer flouted standards before her resignation. Quinn’s stated record is different: family time, a finished internal-promotion goal, and confidence the bench is ready.

What comes next at the Secret Service

The open question is simple. Who takes the deputy director job next? Quinn says the service no longer needs to search outside its own ranks. Curran has been part of the transition talks for months. The agency has not announced a name.

Until Nov. 7, Quinn remains in the role he described as the most rewarding of his career. After that date, the service will test whether the internal pipeline he claims to have reinforced actually holds.

Readers tracking protective-agency leadership can also see how Matt Quinn’s exit was framed around an agency he called well-positioned for what comes next.

A deputy director who says he came back only long enough to put career agents back in line for the job has now set a date to leave. The threats are still rising. The succession claim is now the service’s to prove.