As the Office of Personnel Management continues to dig out from the massive breach of its networks last year, the agency is bringing in help from the Office of Management and Budget once again, this time in the form of an acting CIO.
Lisa Schlosser, deputy federal CIO at OMB and deputy administrator of the Office of E-Government, will be joining OPM as acting CIO on a temporary detail, according to a staff email sent by acting OPM Director Beth Cobert on March 17.
Cobert came from OMB herself, having served as deputy director for management before stepping in for former OPM Director Katherine Archuleta.
Archuleta resigned a month after news broke that a breach of OPM's networks compromised millions of personnel records — ultimately pegged at 21.5 million — for current, former and prospective federal employees. OPM CIO Donna Seymour stayed on for about eight months before resigning in February just before a scheduled House Oversight Committee hearing.
After Seymour's departure, OPM Associate CIO David Vargas stepped in as acting CIO until Schlosser's appointment on Thursday.
"I worked with Lisa for two years while I was at OMB and can tell you from personal experience that she will bring incredible talent, leadership and a commitment to public service that will serve this agency well," Cobert said in her email to staff. "I want to thank Dave Vargas for stepping in as acting CIO during this period of transition and I am glad that he will continue to play a crucial role in OCIO."
Schlosser is serving as acting CIO on a temporary basis, Cobert said, as the agency continues to search for a full-time CIO to lead its modernization efforts.
"I am grateful to Lisa for her willingness to continue to serve our nation by joining our talented team on an acting basis," Cobert wrote. "As we work to navigate the [National Background Investigations Bureau] transition, build on our cybersecurity effort and find the permanent CIO, Lisa will be a major asset for OPM during her detail with our team."
While Schlosser is at OPM, Margie Graves, principal deputy CIO at the Department of Homeland Security, will be taking over her duties at OMB. Graves will serve as deputy administrator of the Office of E-Gov and IT until Schlosser returns.
Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.
