Chaffetz Statement on Administration’s Announcement Regarding Security Clearance Process

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) released the following statement in response to the Obama administration’s announcement regarding changes to how the federal government performs background checks of its employees and contractors:

“Simply creating a new government entity doesn’t solve the problem. The administration needs to undertake meaningful reforms to protect citizens’ most sensitive personal information. Protecting this information should be a core competency of OPM, the government’s human resources agency. Today’s announcement seems aimed only at solving a perception problem rather than tackling the reforms needed to fix a broken security clearance process.”

Background:

The Committee has been at the forefront in investigating the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach, holding a series of hearings and demanding the resignations of former OPM Director Katherine Archuleta and current Chief Information Officer (CIO) Donna Seymour.

Chaffetz to OPM: Remove Donna Seymour (12/10/2015)

Chaffetz Responds to Nomination of Beth Cobert as OPM Director (11/10/2015)

The Breach We Could Have Avoided (09/30/2015)

Fingerprints of Additional 4.5 Million Individuals Stolen in OPM Breach, Chaffetz Responds (09/23/2015)

Chaffetz Statement on OPM Infrastructure Improvement Plan (09/14/2015)

Chaffetz Renews Calls for Removal of OPM CIO Donna Seymour (08/06/2015)

Chaffetz Statement on OPM Director Archuleta’s Resignation (07/10/2015)

Chaffetz Statement on Latest OPM Data Breach Revelation (07/09/2015)

GOP Lawmakers to President Obama: Remove OPM Director Archuleta and CIO Donna Seymour (06/26/2015)

OPM Data Breach: Part II Hearing (06/24/2015)

OPM: Data Breach Hearing (06/16/2015)