The technology chief at a federal agency hacked in 2015 resigned Monday, just two days prior to a scheduled testimony before Congress about the massive data breach that exposed personal information of tens of millions of federal employees.
Leaving the Office of Personnel Management was a “very tough decision,” chief information officer Donna Seymour said Monday in an email to colleagues, reviewed by Reuters. But she felt her presence was distracting and that her resignation is in OPM’s “best interest.”
House Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz had repeatedly called for Seymour’s resignation after the breach, saying she was largely responsible for mistakes leading up to the attack, but expressed frustration Monday about the timing of her resignation.
“While I am disappointed Ms. Seymour will no longer appear before our Committee this week to answer to the American people, her retirement is necessary and long overdue,” Chaffetz said in a statement Monday, calling her resignation “good news.”
“On her watch, whether through negligence or incompetence, millions of Americans lost their privacy and personal data,” he continued. “The national security implications of this entirely foreseeable breach are far-reaching and long-lasting.”
Seymour was scheduled to testify in a hearing about the breach Wednesday, but Chaffetz canceled the hearing altogether after her announcement Monday.
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