WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released the following statement regarding the resignation of Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Katherine Archuleta:
“In the Navy, the captain of a ship is responsible for its safety. If that ship runs aground in the middle of the night while someone else is the officer of the deck, the captain is ultimately held responsible. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Archuleta is in essence the ‘captain’ of OPM. And today she took responsibility for the devastating breach of her agency’s networks and submitted her resignation as its Director. I know this was a difficult decision for Director Archuleta, and I thank her for her service to the agency. I wish her all the best in her next endeavor.
“Given that the top two positions at the agency are now vacant, it is imperative that President Obama puts forth a new nominee for Director soon. In the meantime, the Senate needs to get off its duff and confirm retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Earl Gay, first nominated by the President last September, to serve as Deputy Director of OPM. Further delay on his confirmation is simply unacceptable, especially at a time like this. But new leadership isn’t the only solution. Congress needs to provide agencies with the best tools to stop these intrusions. That includes authorizing the cyber intrusion detection and prevention system currently known as EINSTEIN. In addition, we should enact badly-needed, bipartisan data breach legislation and long-sought legislation to enable the sharing of information among potential targets of hackers. We can’t afford any more delay on these issues. In the coming days, Congress needs to step up and get to work.”
Read Sen. Carper’s statements on the OPM data breach here:
July 9, 2015: Sen. Carper Statement on OPM Data Breach
June 25, 2015: Hearing Statement “Under Attack: Federal Cybersecurity and the OPM Data Breach”
June 5, 2015: Sen. Carper Statement on Reported OPM Cyber Attack