WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines today released the following statement in response to the resignation of Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Katherine Archuleta.
“Director Archuleta’s resignation is an important first step in restoring accountability at OPM—however, OPM’s consistent failure to properly address and react to these cyber attacks results from a much larger, systemic lack of accountability within the Obama administration,” Daines stated. “It’s time for President Obama to place a higher premium on our nation’s security and the privacy of our federal employees and put qualified, competent leaders in place, including a new Chief Information Officer, instead of using these jobs as payoffs to political cronies. We must continue to investigate the true depth of this attack and ensure that proper safeguards are put in place to prevent future breaches of this magnitude. Those responsible for this attack on our troops, veterans, federal employees and their families must be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
On June 23, 2015, Daines became the first U.S. Senator to call for Archuleta’s resignation. On June 24, 2015, Daines also called for CIO Donna Seymour to resign.
Daines previously expressed his deep concerns that Chinese hackers infiltrated our nation’s military and intelligence agencies. Daines has also repeatedly called for quicker notification standards in the event of a data breach of Americans’ personally identifiable information.
Before serving in Congress, Daines worked in the technology sector for more than twelve years. He served as vice president of Montana-based RightNow Technologies, a global leader in cloud computing and multi-billion dollar technology company that became Bozeman, Montana’s largest commercial employer.
###