Eight months after an enormous data breach compromised the data of more than 20 million individuals and two days before a scheduled appearance before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Office of Personnel Management CIO Donna Seymour, has resigned, reports NBC News.
"With a heavy heart I write to tell you that today I have resigned from my position as OPM's chief information office and retired from federal service," Ms. Seymour wrote in a Feb. 22 email to her colleagues. "Leaving OPM at this time was a very tough decision for me, but I feel it is in the agency's best interest that my presence does not distract from the great work this team does every single day for this agency and the American people."
The American Federation of Government Employees had filed a lawsuit against Ms. Seymour and former OPM Director Kathleen Archuleta, who resigned in July 2015, alleging their negligence in protecting the personal data leaked in the June 2015 breach. In the months that followed, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and OPM Inspector General Patrick McFarland both urged Ms. Seymour to step down.
Ms. Seymour was scheduled to testify at a Wednesday House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, according to NBC. In a statement following Ms. Seymour's resignation announcement, Rep. Chaffetz said the retirement is necessary and long overdue.