Quick Hits
*** Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in an internal email that Stuart McGuigan is joining State as its CIO and head of Information Resources Management.
"Every aspect of the department's information technology capabilities and operations now falls under Stuart's oversight, including architecture, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data management, software and application development and application," Pompeo said in his all-staff email.
McGuigan joins State from Johnson & Johnson, where he was company CIO for seven years, managing IT strategy and delivery for 130,000 employees worldwide, according to State's deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino, who shared the news in a March 26 briefing.
McGuigan joined State on March 25. He replaces acting CIO Karen Mummaw, a career employee who has led IRM since December 2017. Mummaw is retiring after a 31-year career in the federal government.
*** The White House has nominated Gen. John Raymond to head the planned U.S. Space Command, the Defense Department announced in a March 26 news release. SpaceCom's launch is designed to accelerate space capabilities and systems and address impending threats to infrastructure and operations. Raymond, who currently heads Air Force Space Command, would keep that position, taking on a dual-hatted role if confirmed.
*** The House Committee on Oversight and Reform took up a slate of bills aimed at boosting ethics and oversight protections amid a Trump administration mired in apparent conflicts of interest and ethics investigations of current and former members.
The first, the Executive Branch Comprehensive Ethics Enforcement Act, introduced by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), would give teeth to the Office of Government Ethics by providing its director subpoena power. Discussion on the bill was extended and divided along party lines, with Republicans objecting and offering amendments that were voted down.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) introduced a bill that would require presidential transition teams to submit ethics plans to Congress that include any individuals for whom a security clearance was requested.
Cummings introduced another bill that would codify the prohibition of federal agencies and contractors’ requesting criminal record information of job applicants before they give a conditional offer.
The Inspector General Protection Act, introduced by Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Jody Hice (R-Ga.), would require the president to report to Congress about inspector general posts that remain vacant for more than 210 days.