|
 "I wouldn't rely on her to clean up this mess," Republican Senator
Ron Johnson said of Katherine Archuleta after a committee hearing in
which her answers failed to satisfy lawmakers. "I don't think she's
qualified to do so."
In the meeting, committee members pushed Archuleta for details on
the widespread security breach, including how many Americans might
have been affected and where the attacks originated. Though the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies have said the
attack, which was detected in April, could have affected as many as
18.2 million Americans, Archuleta said that number was "preliminary,
unverified and approximate."
Archuleta, who has testified in at least three public hearings in
Congress this week, repeated previous statements that personnel data
of 4.2 million current and former federal employees was compromised
in one security breach. She acknowledged that another attack,
targeting those applying for security clearances, affected many
millions more, but she would not give a more specific answer.
In response to questions regarding whether she had met with FBI
officials to discuss the 18.2 million estimate, Archuleta said while
her associates had done so, she had not.
Many members of Congress have been clamoring for Archuleta's
resignation since U.S. officials announced early this month that
hackers had broken into OPM computers and the data of millions of
current and former federal employees had been compromised.
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OPM press secretary Samuel Schumach said Archuleta has taken the
responsibility of securing federal employee data "very seriously,"
and she is committed to continuing to evaluate and improve security
systems.
The White House has said Archuleta, who has held her office for
about two years, has the president's support.
OPM Inspector General Patrick McFarland, when asked at the hearing
about whether he was confident in the agency leadership's ability to
resolve security issues, said: "I believe that the interest and
intent is there. But based on what we've found, no."
U.S. officials have said they suspect the data breaches are
connected to China, but the administration has not yet publicly
accused Beijing. China denies any involvement in hacking U.S.
databases.
(Reporting by Megan Cassella; Editing by Richard Chang and Alan
Crosby)
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