Senators are well on their way to confirming a new Office of Personnel Management secretary, less than 24 hours after a congressional committee subpoenaed her for records and said she was “not working in good faith.”
Members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee expressed concern Thursday that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs subpoenaed OPM Acting Secretary Beth Cobert for records the night before, but still said they want to confirm her as OPM’s new secretary. HOGR Chairman and Utah Republican Rep. [crscore]Jason Chaffetz[/crscore] has been asking Cobert’s staff for 11,000 unredacted files over the agency’s security breaches for months.
“It is troubling that the House Oversight Committee was forced to resort to a subpoena,” HSGAC Chairman and Wisconsin Republican Sen. [crscore]Ron Johnson[/crscore] said in a Thursday hearing, adding later, “we all want to see this nomination move forward.”
Chaffetz didn’t hold back Wednesday when he subpoenaed Cobert for documents related to OPM’s security breaches that let hackers steal the personal information of more than 21 million current and former federal employees.
“Despite assurances of cooperation, I’m disappointed Ms. Cobert is not working in good faith with the committee,” Chaffetz said in a news release Wednesday. “I will use all available remedies to obtain the information needed to conduct a thorough and meaningful investigation.”
Democratic Sen. [crscore]Claire McCaskill[/crscore] of Missouri wanted to know why Cobert hasn’t executed all of the recommendations by retiring OPM Inspector General Patrick McFarland.
“We have a process of working our way through each of those specific recommendations,” Cobert said, without offering many specifics on that progress.
Republican Sen. [crscore]James Lankford[/crscore] of Oklahoma said he wants more proof from Cobert that she will comply with Congress’ demands for information.
“I would want us to have a very cooperative relationship,” Lankford said. “We both have the same job — to serve the American people. It’s no different.”
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