Beth Cobert's term as acting director of the Office of Personnel and Management is about to be more permanent.
The White House announced on Nov. 10 that President Obama would be nominating Cobert as the permanent head of OPM.
"Beth will bring tremendous depth and quality of experience to her role as Director of the Office of Personnel Management," Obama said in a statement.
"As Acting Director, Beth has effectively pursued strategies to strengthen cybersecurity and improve the way the government serves citizens, businesses, and the federal workforce both past and present. I thank Beth for her commitment to serving the American people and look forward to working with her in the months ahead."
Cobert was named acting director in July, in the wake of the OPM hack, replacing then-director Katherine Archuleta.
American Federation of Government Employees president J. David Cox Sr. said, in a statement, that Cobert provided strong leadership since the hack and would continue to do so.
"Ms. Cobert stepped into the OPM role at a difficult time, as the agency was reeling from the massive theft of personal information on employees, retirees and job applicants that was stored on OPM computers," he said.
"She has answered questions about the data breach honestly, has taken steps to bring in-house the work associated with notifying affected employees, and seems to understand IT adequately enough to make sure that security measures are in place to minimize further breaches."
Lawmakers like Sen. Tom Carper, D.-Del., also voiced support for Cobert and touted her leadership following the hack.
"Under her guidance, the agency continues to address the serious consequences of these breaches, including the implications for our national security and for the more than 4 million individuals whose personnel data was stolen and the more than 21 million individuals whose sensitive security clearance information was compromised," the senator said, in a statement. "It's critical that OPM continues to help the victims of the breaches and provide information in a timely and transparent manner."
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R.-Utah, echoed those statements, but also called for the ousting of OPM's chief information officer.
"In my initial meetings with Beth Cobert, she has impressed me as a talented, qualified, and competent choice for OPM Director," he said, in a statement.
"It is of huge concern however, that despite suffering a massive data breach and not working in good faith with the OPM OIG, CIO Donna Seymour remains in her position. I strongly urge Ms. Cobert to immediately remove Ms. Seymour and replace her with a qualified CIO who will protect the critical information housed at OPM."
Cobert will now await confirmation from the Senate.
