In the News

Congressman Gerald E. Connolly, Vice Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released the following statement on President Trump’s Executive Order on agency Chief Information Officers:

“I commend the Administration for taking action to ensure that federal agencies continue to implement the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and institute good IT acquisition practices.

“One of FITARA’s foremost goals is to enhance the duties of agency Chief Information Officers to ensure better management and coordination of IT investments. Since FITARA was enacted, my colleagues on the Oversight and Government Reform and I have held semiannual hearings to track agency implementation of the law. We have consistently found that agencies were hesitant to have CIOs report to the Secretary or Deputy Secretary of the agency, that agency CIOs did not have adequate visibility into their agency’s IT budgets, and were often not adequately involved in the management and governance of IT investments until critical problems arose.

“This Executive Order builds on the foundation established in FITARA, addresses vacancies in federal IT sector that hinder agency IT efforts, and sets a path for better management of IT acquisition. It is disappointing that the Department of Defense is not covered under this Executive Order as it is the one agency that consistently receives a failing grade on the FITARA scorecard. I urge the Department to take a good look at Executive Order and FITARA as guidance of the Department’s own IT acquisition and management.”