In light of a highly critical inspector general report, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is renewing his calls for the Obama administration to fire the Office of Personnel Management’s IT chief.
Chaffetz first called on President Obama to fire Donna Seymour, chief information officer of the government’s human resources department, on June 26, when he also called on Obama to fire then Director Katherine Archuleta.
Archuleta stepped down after OPM revealed that two massive hacks of its electronic systems in 2014 affected ultimately affected more than 22 million Americans — far greater than the department initially believed.
OPM’s Inspector General Patrick McFarland wrote a scathing memo to acting OPM Director Beth Cobert July 22 detailing how Seymour’s office has “hindered” his work. On Monday McFarland brought the memo to Chaffetz’s attention.
Seymour’s office gave McFarland “inaccurate or misleading information some of which” Archuleta repeated at congressional hearings, McFarland wrote Cobert. “Recent events make” McFarland “question whether” Seymour’s office “is acting in good faith.”
“One of the most troubling examples is how the agency embarked upon a complex and costly IT infrastructure improvement project without any notification to our office,” McFarland continued. “It is disturbing” that McFarland’s office was excluded from “such a major initiative, especially given the fact that it was undertaken in response to the March 2014 data breach.”
Additionally, the IT office “created an environment of mistrust by providing my office with incorrect and/or misleading information,” he wrote. The memo includes attachments with examples and McFarland added that he would also bring the matter to the attention of the Office of Management and Budget.
One of the examples involved a request that McFarland delay his probe into data breaches at private companies contracted to do background investigations for government security clearances.
Another states that the IT office waited a week before telling McFarland’s shop about the first breach of OPM’s employee records. The second attachment is completely redacted.
Chaffetz wrote to Cobert that he was dismayed that Seymour retains her position in light of “these serious transgressions.”
In a statement OPM spokesman Sam Schumach responded that Seymour’s office “has been working incredibly hard to enhance the security of our information technology systems and support those who have been affected by the recent cybersecurity incidents.”
Further, since Seymour’s arrival at OPM in late 2013, the agency “has undertaken an aggressive effort” to upgrade its IT security, which was “critical in helping OPM to identify the recent cybersecurity incidents,” Schumach said.
Schumach said that Seymour, a civil servant of 37 years, has “served with distinction” and received Distinguished Civilian Service honors from the Navy secretary, as well as being named a Top 100 chief information officer by Computerworld magazine.
