President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he has appointed longtime Secret Service worker Kimberly Cheatle to be the next director of the federal law enforcement agency. The move comes as the agency has faced intense scrutiny after the Jan. 6 riot.

Cheatle has served more than 25 years with the Secret Service and achieved multiple different leadership roles within the agency, including Assistant Director of Protective Operations.

"I am proud to announce that I have selected Kim Cheatle to be the next Director of the United States Secret Service. Kim has had a long and distinguished career at the Secret Service, having risen through the ranks during her 27 years with the agency," Biden said in a White House statement.

"Jill and I know firsthand Kim's commitment to her job and to the Secret Service's people and mission. When Kim served on my security detail when I was Vice President, we came to trust her judgment and counsel," the statement read.

Biden cited her distinguished "law distinguished law enforcement professionalism" and "exceptional leadership skills."

Cheatle had served as part of the Vice Presidential Protective Division. In December 2021, Biden awarded Cheatle with a Presidential Rank Award.

Cheatle currently serves as a senior director at PepsiCo. She will be the second woman to serve as director of the Secret Service, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security.

The first woman to lead the Secret Service, Julia Pierson, was appointed in 2013 by President Barack Obama.

Secret Service Director James Murray recently announced he would step down to become chief security officer for social media company Snap Inc.