Congressman Meadows’ Statement on OPM Director Archuleta’s Resignation

Washington, DC— Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Katherine Archuleta announced her resignation Friday, following the historic cyber-attack on the federal government that exposed the personal information of 21.5 million Americans. Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC) released the following statement:

“I'm pleased to hear ‪OPM Director ‪Archuleta has resigned from her post. It was long overdue. Last month, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz  and I called for her resignation after it came to light  that she ignored an Inspector General’s cybersecurity recommendations, leaving the personal information of millions of federal workers, intelligence officials, and members of the U.S. military vulnerable to a cyber-attack. Under Director Archuleta’s oversight, OPM failed to implement even the most basic cyber-security protocols, including encrypting sensitive information.

This was a colossal failing by Director Archuleta and the Chief Information Officer that will have security implications for decades to come. However, Director Archuleta’s resignation is only the first step in correcting the institutional failure that allowed this breach to occur in the first place. I warned back in June that there would be much more to come and sure enough, yesterday we learned that more than 21.5 million individuals were affected. Unfortunately, I don’t think we will truly understand the magnitude of this security breach for years to come.”

Congressman Mark Meadows Chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations, which has oversight jurisdiction over federal agencies.

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