U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

30–097 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019

S. Hrg. 115–430 

NOMINATIONS OF JEFF T.H. PON, MICHAEL J. 

RIGAS, AND EMILY J. MURPHY 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON 

HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

NOMINATIONS OF JEFF T.H. PON TO BE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF 

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, MICHAEL J. RIGAS TO BE DEPUTY 

DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, AND EMILY W. 

MURPHY TO BE ADMINISTRATOR, GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION 

OCTOBER 18, 2017 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov 

Printed for the use of the 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

( 
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

STEVE DAINES, Montana 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

JON TESTER, Montana 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire 

KAMALA D. HARRIS, California 

CHRISTOPHER R. HIXON, Staff Director 

GABRIELLE D’ADAMO SINGER, Chief Counsel 

DAVID N. BREWER, Chief Investigative Counsel 

MARGARET E. DAUM, Minority Staff Director 

DONALD K. SHERMAN, Minority Senior Counsel 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 

BONNI E. DINERSTEIN, Hearing Clerk 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Opening statements: Page 

Senator Johnson ............................................................................................... 1 

Senator McCaskill ............................................................................................ 2 

Senator Carper ................................................................................................. 12 

Senator Tester .................................................................................................. 19 

Senator Heitkamp ............................................................................................ 21 

Senator Lankford .............................................................................................. 24 

Senator Hassan ................................................................................................. 27 

Senator Hoeven ................................................................................................. 29 

Senator Harris .................................................................................................. 32 

Prepared statements: 

Senator Johnson ............................................................................................... 37 

WITNESSES 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2017 

Jeff T.H. Pon, Ph.D., to be Director, Office of Personnel Management 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 4 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 39 

Biographical and financial information .......................................................... 42 

Letter from the Office of Government Ethics ................................................. 60 

Responses to pre-hearing questions ................................................................ 63 

Responses to post-hearing questions .............................................................. 89 

Letters of Support ............................................................................................. 109 

Michael J. Rigas, to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 6 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 112 

Biographical and financial information .......................................................... 115 

Letter from the Office of Government Ethics ................................................. 130 

Responses to pre-hearing questions ................................................................ 133 

Responses to post-hearing questions .............................................................. 158 

Emily W. Murphy, to be Administrator, General Services Administration 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 9 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 165 

Biographical and financial information .......................................................... 169 

Letter from the Office of Government Ethics ................................................. 198 

Responses to pre-hearing questions ................................................................ 201 

Responses to post-hearing questions .............................................................. 230 

Letters of Support ............................................................................................. 243 

(1) 

1The prepared statement of Senator Johnson appears in the Appendix on page 37. 

NOMINATIONS OF JEFF T.H. PON, MICHAEL J. 

RIGAS AND EMILY J. MURPHY 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2017 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY

AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 

SD–342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Ron Johnson, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Johnson, Portman, Lankford, Hoeven, Daines, 

McCaskill, Carper, Tester, Heitkamp, Peters, Hassan, and Harris. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN JOHNSON1

Chairman JOHNSON. Good morning. This hearing will come to 

order. 

We are meeting today to consider the nominations for the Director and Deputy Director of the Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM) and the Administrator for the General Services Administration (GSA). 

The Director of Office of Personnel Management is the human resources (HR) and personnel policy manager for the Federal Government and oversees a workforce of over 5,800 employees and a budget of about $280 million. The Director is responsible for issuing 

governmentwide policies and guidance for recruiting, hiring, developing, and retaining individuals for Federal employment. 

The Director is also responsible for the administration of Federal 

Employee Benefits Programs (FEBP), including retirement, health 

insurance, life insurance, and long-term care insurance. 

The Director will also play a role in agency reorganizations 

under the President’s Executive Order (EO) by assisting agencies 

with authorizations for personnel pay and hiring flexibilities. 

The Office of Personnel Management faces many challenges. The 

agency has been without a confirmed Director for more than 2 

years and without a Deputy Director for more than 5 years at a 

time when it is still recovering from the unprecedented breach of 

data of 22.1 million current and retired Federal employees by foreign operatives. 

The Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) is approaching its 40th anniversary, and there are concerns about whether the personnel systems established to protect merit-based employment are adapting 

to today’s workforce needs. 
2 

The Office of Personnel Management also must stabilize and reduce backlogs in the processing of retirement claims and security 

clearance background investigations. 

Other positions, the Administrator of GSA is responsible for implementing shared services governmentwide, constructing and 

managing government properties and leases, and assisting agencies 

in procuring goods and services in a cost-effective manner. This 

role requires oversight of roughly $53 billion in annual procurement and 371 million rentable square feet, including 8,300 buildings and a fleet of 210,000 vehicles. In addition, the Administrator 

oversees a workforce of around 11,500 employees and a $24 billion 

budget. 

The Administrator plays a central role in two government 

operations that have long been plagued with operational challenges—information technology (IT) acquisitions and operations 

and real property management. 

While Congress has recently enacted legislation to assist the 

agency with real property management, there are millions of 

square feet of property leases soon to expire and major construction 

projects that are behind schedule and over budget. Meanwhile, the Federal Government spends more than $80 billion annually on information technology, with a large portion going 

to operation and maintenance of dangerously old systems. Contributing to the problem is a complex and inflexible acquisition process. 

With the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) nearing 2,000 

pages—I just got a copy of it right here. And by the way, if you 

are making acquisitions for one of the Departments, for example, 

Defense, you add that little book as well. It is clear we have become pennywise but pound foolish when it comes to overseeing how 

the government buys goods and services. 

So I want to welcome the nominees. I know I see some family 

members here. During your testimony, I would encourage you to 

introduce them. We welcome your family members and friends as 

well. We appreciate your willingness to serve this Nation in these 

important positions. 

And with that, I will turn the microphone over to Senator 

McCaskill for comments. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MCCASKILL 

Senator MCCASKILL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate you 

holding the hearing for these three nominees, and I especially appreciate your willingness to serve in government. 

This is a tough time to serve in government because we have 

record-high cynicism and negativity about people who serve in the 

public sector. I think all of you appreciate that a lot of that judgment is unfair. That the vast majority of people who choose to 

serve in the public sector are doing so because they are committed 

and hardworking and have integrity, and unfortunately, I think 

there are way too many people now that are avoiding public service 

because of the negativity that is out there. 

So I am especially appreciative when people who are very qualified and could make lots of money in the private sector decide that 

they want to give their time, effort, and ingenuity to a government, 

and so thank all three of you for that. 
3 

We have the OPM today and we have GSA. 

The General Services Administration was established in 1949 to 

help support the basic functioning of Federal agencies. Today, as 

our nominee knows, GSA manages acquisition of Federal real property, supplies products, and communications for U.S. Government 

offices; provides transportation and office space to Federal employees; and develops governmentwide cost-minimizing policies, among 

other many important responsibilities. 

In September, President Trump nominated Emily Murphy to 

serve as the next GSA Administrator. I will have an opportunity 

to say more about Ms. Murphy when I introduce her. For now, I 

will just say I have been very impressed by her record of public 

service and encouraged by my conversations with Ms. Murphy regarding her priorities in her future role. 

I also look forward to hearing from the President’s nominee to 

lead the Office of Personnel Management—Dr. Jeff Pon to serve as 

Director and Michael Rigas to serve as Deputy Director. 

OPM oversees all policies and rules surrounding the hiring, 

training, performance evaluation, and overall management of the 

2.1 million civilian Federal employees across the country. 

It is also important that OPM carry out the Nation’s Federal 

workforce priorities such as providing retirement benefits and services for all Federal employees and the all-important background investigation program. 

I hope I will have an opportunity to hear from all three of the 

nominees about some of the serious challenges facing our workforce. 

I also want to specifically mention that Dr. Pon and I talked 

about two items of concern to me. One is the background checks 

and how we are standing up the ability to do this in a more comprehensive and efficient way and the challenges we face with now 

an idea to pull it back to the Department of Defense (DOD) after 

it came over to OPM from DOD, a relatively short time ago. 

I also want to make sure we are addressing the fact that people 

are giving their lives to Federal service and deciding to retire and 

waiting in a very long line to get their benefits because of the inefficiencies of the retirement system in terms of beginning your retirement benefits. 

Also, I would like to see some reform in the Senior Executive 

Service (SES). It was designed to do one thing, and frankly, it has 

not reached that goal. And I think it is time we look at it, especially those people who burrowed in at agencies with very high salaries, guaranteed bonuses, without the kind of flexibility that the 

system was designed to embrace. 

I also want to make sure that we talk about GSA, and there are 

so many issues at GSA that need to be addressed. And I know that 

having had a conversation with Ms. Murphy, she is fully cognizant 

of some of the biggest challenges she is going to face. 

So thank you, all three, for being here. I will look forward to 

questioning you. 

I do want to apologize now. I have to go to the White House to 

talk to the President about tax reform in about less than an hour. 

So if I leave during the hearing, please do not consider that as any 
4 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Pon appears in the Appendix on page 39. 

kind of slight of any of the three of you. It is just that I have this 

obligation I have to meet in about an hour. 

Thank you very much. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Thank you, Senator McCaskill. 

It is the tradition of this Committee to swear in witnesses, so if 

you will all stand and raise your right hand. 

Do you swear the testimony you will give before this Committee 

will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so 

help you, God? 

Mr. PON. I do. 

Mr. RIGAS. I do. 

Ms. MURPHY. I do. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Please be seated. 

Our first nominee is the nominee to be Director of the Office of 

Personnel Management, Dr. Jeff Pon. Dr. Pon has devoted his career to human resources management in both private and public 

sectors. He is currently the Chief Human Resources and Strategy 

Officer at the Society for Human Capital Management. 

Prior to that, Dr. Pon worked as Chief Operating Officer (COO) 

at Futures, Inc.; as a Federal contractor at Booz Allen Hamilton. 

Mr. Pon previously served as Chief Human Capital Officer 

(CHCO) at the U.S. Department of Energy, as Deputy Director of 

eGovernment at the Office of Personnel Different. 

Dr. Pon received his Ph.D. and master’s of science degree from 

the California School of Professional Psychology and a bachelor of 

arts degree from the University of Southern California. Dr. Pon. 

TESTIMONY OF JEFF T.H. PON, PH.D.,1 NOMINATED TO BE 

DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT 

Mr. PON. Thank you, Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member 

McCaskill, and Members of the Committee for the honor to appear 

before you today to discuss my nomination to be the Director of the 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. 

I would like to thank my family—Gillian, my wife; and my two 

daughters, Cordelia and Charlotte—for supporting me through this 

process and transition to serve, if confirmed, as the Director of the 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. 

I would like to thank President Trump for the trust he has put 

into me to lead and manage the Office of Personnel Management, 

which as you know is a vital agency to ensuring the proper functioning of the Federal Government. 

I would also like to thank the Senators who I have had a chance 

to visit with prior to today’s hearing and their staff. 

I felt we had very honest and straightforward discussion about 

the obstacles we face, and I was inspired by their commitment to 

working together to solve big problems with big solutions. 

I would also like to thank the staff of the Committee that took 

the time to speak to me during this process. If confirmed, I am 

looking forward to leading the hardworking Federal employees of 

OPM who serve the American public. 

I would like to thank my friend, Acting Director Kathy 

McGettigan, who is here today, for her friendship, for our time to-
5 

gether when previously I served at OPM, and her support through 

this process. 

My prior professional experience includes working in both the 

public and private sectors, including my time at OPM, where I led 

several eGovernment initiatives, and at the Department of Energy, 

where I served as the Chief Human Capital Officer. 

In the private sector, I have gained working experience with 

companies and organizations of various sizes and have seen technological advances that they have been able to make to better serve 

their employees. 

Through this public-and private-sector experience, I developed a 

keen understanding of the role human resources plays in the success of organizations. 

Furthermore, I gained firsthand knowledge of the challenges 

Federal managers encounter while accomplishing the mission of 

their organizations. I have continually focused on mission-driven 

efforts, and along with the knowledge of developing and implementing large-scale change, I understand how to develop and implement large-scale change that will be important in my role, if 

confirmed as Director. 

OPM and the government faces many challenges, but I believe 

we can overcome those obstacles. In my lifetime, which I mean during my service as OPM Director if I am confirmed, I want to work 

with this Committee to tackle the big problems. 

We have not taken a hard look at our civil service laws in decades, and we are relying on paper processes, and in too many areas 

the Federal Government is not a workplace that is keeping up with 

the demands of the next generation of public servants or serving 

our current Federal employees. 

I believe we can do better, and working together, I believe we can 

implement the many ideas that I have already had the opportunity 

to speak with some of you about prior to our meeting today. 

If confirmed, I plan to concentrate on the most important resource at OPM and in the Federal Government, its people. My imperatives or non-negotiables for both myself and my teams are the 

following: always tell the truth, work together as a team, make the 

tough choices, treat everybody with dignity and respect, enhance 

the reputation and accomplishments of those around you, value differences, and create an environment that energizes you and the 

team around you. 

If we integrate these principles into our daily work, I believe we 

can be successful in overcoming the obstacles before us today. 

I would like to include in the testimony today a favorite quote 

of mine from Thomas Jefferson: ‘‘As that becomes more developed, 

more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the circumstances of 

change, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the 

times.’’ 

In my lifetime, I have been fortunate enough to see technological 

advances in the public and private sector, and if confirmed, I look 

forward to leading OPM as it continues to advance to better serve 

the Federal workforce and, as a result, better serve the American 

public. 
6 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Rigas appears in the Appendix on page 112. 

Thank you for your consideration, and I am happy to answer any 

questions that you may have. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Thank you, Dr. Pon. 

Our next nominee is the nominee for the Deputy Director of 

OPM. Mr. Michael Rigas has over 20 years of experience in improving organizational structures and streamlining operations in the 

private, public, and nonprofit sectors. 

Mr. Rigas currently serves as an advisor in the General Services 

Administration Office of Small Business Utilization. He previously 

served as Chief of Staff of the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services. 

Mr. Rigas has also worked as Political Director for the Republican Party of Massachusetts and as Deputy Director of Coalition 

Relations of the Heritage Foundation. He has also served as Associate Administrator at the General Services Administration. 

Mr. Rigas received a master’s of public administration degree 

from Harvard University and both a master’s of arts and bachelor 

of arts degree from Boston University. Mr. Rigas. 

TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL J. RIGAS,1 NOMINATED TO BE 

DEPUTY DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT 

Mr. RIGAS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member 

McCaskill, and Members of the Committee for the opportunity to 

appear before you today. It is an honor to be nominated to be Deputy Director of the Office of Personnel Management, and I would 

like to thank President Trump for the opportunity to serve. 

I would also like to take a moment to thank my wife, Laura; my 

parents, John and Zoe Rigas; my siblings; and other family and 

friends who have supported me throughout my life. It is from my 

parents that my siblings and I were taught the importance of public service as a way to give back to the country to which they immigrated. My father spent over 25 years as a public school teacher, 

and among the seven children in our family, five are in public service today. 

I would also like to thank the Chairman and Committee staff 

who took the time to meet with me during this process, and I look 

forward to working with you and with the Members of this Committee, if confirmed. 

I would also like to thank Acting Director McGettigan for being 

here today and for her support during this process. 

I am grateful to be before you today to be considered for a position where I would have the opportunity to serve Federal employees and the American public. I know from my own experience at 

the State and Federal Government levels, the commitment and 

dedication of those who serve their country. 

I hope to bring my over 20 years of management and leadership 

experience to bear on the challenges facing OPM today. If confirmed, I will work with agency leadership and staff to further 

OPM’s ability to execute its mission of recruiting, retaining, and 

supporting the Federal workforce in the most efficient and effective 

way possible. 
7 

OPM has faced a number of challenges over recent years. If confirmed, I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and working to address the pressing issues the agency faces. 

In particular, I hope to focus on building on the work already undertaken to improve the information technology posture of the 

agency and restore the confidence of the public in the agency’s ability to safeguard and protect Federal employee data. 

There are also opportunities at OPM to modernize how the agency’s work is carried out and how it can support Federal employees, 

retirees, and those seeking Federal employment. 

In my previous experiences in the public and private sectors, I 

have implemented reforms, streamlined operations, and reduced 

the amount of time it takes to process benefits. These are the types 

of experiences I would like to bring to the role of Deputy Director, 

if confirmed. 

In my previous professional leadership roles, I believe I left those 

organizations in a better position than I found them. I have endeavored to make a positive and meaningful impact, both in the 

public and private sectors, from improving customer service to saving taxpayer dollars. Each of these successes was possible because 

of the dedicated men and women I have had the privilege of serving with who worked together as a team to achieve a shared vision 

of a better workplace for our organization and better service for our 

customers and taxpayers. 

It would be an honor to serve at the Office of Personnel Management, if confirmed, and to serve those who seek a career in public 

service, those currently serving, and those who have retired from 

Federal service. 

I would like to thank the Committee for considering my nomination, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Thank you, Mr. Rigas. 

Our final nominee, Ms. Emily Murphy, nominee for the Administrator of General Services Administration, will be introduced by 

Senator McCaskill. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Chairman, as the senior Senator from Missouri and the 

Ranking Member of this Committee, it gives me great pleasure to 

introduce Emily Webster Murphy as President Trump’s nominee to 

serve as Administrator of the General Services Administration. 

Ms. Murphy was born and raised in St. Louis, and her family is 

here with her today. I will say that in full disclosure that her parents, Jim and Mimi Murphy, are friends of mine and friends of my 

husband’s, and the Murphy family has a very impressive and successful local business, Murphy Company Mechanical Contractors, 

and I am proud that they are all here today along with her siblings 

and her niece and nephew to cheer her on and give her the support 

that she so rightly deserves from her family. 

Welcome to the Murphy family, to the U.S. Senate. 

Following her graduation from Smith College, Ms. Murphy 

worked for the family business and then moved to Washington, 

D.C., to serve as a professional staff member on the Committee of 

Small Business in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

After attending law school at the University of Virginia School 

of Law, she returned to Washington to begin a distinguished legal 
8 

career in both the public, including service both in the legislative 

branch and the executive branch and private sectors, both as a 

practicing attorney and house counsel for a startup business. 

She began her career in Federal procurement in 1997 and has 

worked on acquisition issues in a variety of capacities of the last 

20 years. As an attorney, she represented clients on government 

contracting and compliance issues, including bid protests, contract 

disputes, lobbying on small business and procurement policies, as 

well as crafting legislative and regulatory action plans. And while 

working for the U.S. Congress in various roles, she conducted robust oversight of Federal procurement policy. 

In the executive branch, she has served as Senior Advisor for 

Government Contracts and Business Development at the Small 

Business Administration (SBA) and the Chief Acquisition Officer at 

GSA under President George W. Bush. 

The GSA Administrator must be a dedicated public steward of 

taxpayer funds to ensure the American people get the best value 

and service for their tax dollars. During my time as Chair of this 

Committee’s Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, I investigated GSA for spending recklessly on public relations contracts 

and employee conferences. 

Ms. Murphy’s breadth of experience in government contracting 

and procurement has enabled her to consider and understand procurement policy from the perspective of GSA, its sister agencies, its 

vendor community, as well as its oversight bodies. 

I had the pleasure of meeting with her in person a few weeks 

ago. During that conversation, we had a chance to talk about our 

families, our love of St. Louis and Missouri, as well as challenges 

ahead for GSA. 

She has a complete working understanding that managing the 

Federal procurement policy is no small task and is focused on reforming the acquisition process to increase both competition and 

competence. 

She wants GSA to be a leader in assisting Federal agencies as 

they update their information technology and cybersecurity infrastructure. 

She is committed to ensuring the success of our recently passed 

Federal Asset Sale and Transfer Act, which I know will make Senator Carper happy. She wants to manage real property and identify 

savings for the American people. She wants to move expeditiously 

to implement recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Inspector General (IG) for the acquisition and disposal of Federal property. 

Finally and most importantly, she pledged to create an environment at GSA where all employees feel comfortable reporting waste, 

fraud, and abuse to management, the Inspector General, or Congress, without fear of reprisal. 

I cannot imagine someone that could be more qualified for this 

position, and it is my honor to introduce her to the Committee 

today. And let me just say with some confidence, I look forward to 

working with her as Administrator of the General Services Administration. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Thank you, Senator McCaskill. 
9 

1The prepared statement of MS. Murphy appears in the Appendix on page 165. 

There are three questions the Committee asks of every nominee 

for the record. I will ask the question and then just go from my 

left to your right. 

Senator MCCASKILL. She did not have a chance to testify. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Oh, you are right. She did not. 

Ms. Murphy, well, it was such a glowing—do you really have 

anything to add? [Laughter.] 

TESTIMONY OF EMILY W. MURPHY,1 NOMINATED TO BE 

ADMINISTRATOR, GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION 

Ms. MURPHY. Maybe I should stop talking now. 

Senator MCCASKILL. This goes under do not sell past the close. 

[Laughter.] 

Chairman JOHNSON. Ms. Murphy. 

Ms. MURPHY. Thank you. 

Good morning, Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member McCaskill, 

and Members of the Committee. I am honored to be here today and 

to be nominated to serve as the next Administrator of the General 

Services Administration. 

I want to especially thank Senator McCaskill for her kind remarks and for allowing my family to use her office as a base today. 

Before I begin my formal remarks, with your permission, I would 

like to introduce my family members who came in from St. Louis: 

my father, Jim Murphy, who taught me the value of hard work by 

having me answer phones at the family business; my mother, 

Mimi, who started practicing law in 1971, showing me that women 

really can do anything; my sister Anne Hill and her husband, Rob, 

who had the courage to start their own small business; their children, Charlie who is 10 and Jane who is 8; and my brother, Joey, 

who probably has the most important job of any of us, teaching the 

next generation. 

While St. Louis will always be home, I have been in D.C. working on Federal contracting issues for over 20 years now. I have benefited from approaching these issues from a variety of perspectives—legislative, executive, and private sector. 

In my 9 years on the Hill, I have had the opportunity to work 

on contracting reform, first for then Congressman Jim Talent as 

the head of the House Small Business Committee. As the junior 

staffer, I got the issue no one else wanted, procurement policy, and 

I really like it. 

I later returned to the Committee to work for Chairman Sam 

Graves and Chairman Steve Chabot. Until January, I worked for 

Chairman Mac Thornberry at the House Armed Services Committee. 

I have also spent nearly 4 years in the executive branch implementing the laws that Congress passes, both at the Small Business 

Administration and during my tenure as the Chief Acquisition Office at GSA. 

Through my previous roles in the legislative and executive 

branches, I have gained a deep appreciation for the oversight responsibilities of Congress. If confirmed, I pledge that you will have 

an accessible, transparent, and responsive Administrator. 
10 

Equally importantly, in the private sector, I have worked both as 

an attorney helping small businesses comply with contracting regulations and as an employee of a tech startup. As a result, I understand the barriers to entry that ultimately limit competition. 

The longer I work in Federal acquisition, the more I realize that 

good contracting saves taxpayers money, improves competition, and 

allows agencies to better execute their missions. 

In 2017, as government continues to modernize, GSA’s mission is 

to provide contracts, buildings, technology, and other mission support services in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible. If confirmed, I will hold GSA to that mission. 

To that end, I intend to focus on four overarching priorities. The 

first is to provide ethical leadership. The citizens we serve deserve 

confidence in the integrity of their government. I will strive to earn 

that trust every day by creating a culture within GSA that puts the 

taxpayers first, encourages a diversity of opinions, values the contributions of all employees, and promotes a safe culture for reporting misconduct. 

My second priority is to reduce duplication. Significant opportunities exist to reduce duplication in GSA’s internal mission support 

services and its systems, which will in turn reduce barriers to 

entry for contractors, barriers to access for other agencies, and the 

risks associated with managing outdated systems. Within the Public Building Service, GSA should facilitate the disposal of unused 

or underutilized real property. Further, where appropriate, GSA 

should reduce duplication by facilitating the adoption of shared 

services across agencies. 

Third, it is critical that the agency look for ways to increase competition. There are opportunities to do so both at the contract 

award level and at the task order level. In terms of real property, 

the leases for over 100 million square feet of office space are set 

to expire in the next 5 years, which is an incredible opportunity for 

GSA to work with Congress and its tenant agency to get better 

deals. 

Finally, improving transparency is central to the agency’s work. 

Whether this means providing a database of Federal real property 

assets, making data more available at data.gov, or improving the 

system for award management, transparency will not only expose 

flaws and instill confidence in the integrity of our government but 

also increase competition and ultimately save taxpayer money. 

These priorities should be applied to nearly every facet of GSA’s 

mission. They will provide a framework for addressing recommendations from the GAO and from the IG, and most importantly, they are the key to instilling public confidence in the agency. 

Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. If confirmed, I 

am excited about the opportunity to work with all of you, and I 

would be happy to answer any questions you may have. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Thank you, Ms. Murphy. That was well 

worth the hearing. Sorry I almost overlooked your testimony. 

There are three questions that the Committee asks of every 

nominee, so I will ask the question, then, from my left to right. 

Please respond. 
11 

First question. Is there anything you are aware of in your background that might present a conflict of interest to the duties of the 

office to which you have been nominated? Dr. Pon. 

Mr. PON. No. 

Mr. RIGAS. No. 

Ms. MURPHY. No. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Do you know of anything, personal or otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from fully and honorably 

discharging the responsibilities of the office to which you have been 

nominated? 

Mr. PON. No. 

Mr. RIGAS. No. 

Ms. MURPHY. No. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Finally, do you agree without reservation to 

comply with any request or summons to appear and testify before 

any duly constituted committee of Congress if you are confirmed? 

Mr. PON. Yes. 

Mr. RIGAS. Yes. 

Ms. MURPHY. Yes. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Thank you. 

One of the reasons I try moving these hearings along is when I 

see I have good attendance, I really want to be mindful of the time. 

I only have one line of questioning, and it really has to do with 

a ruling OPM—and I know, Dr. Pon, we have talked about this, 

but just a quick little timeline. That will not take long. 

In the summer and fall of 2009, the Senate was debating health 

care reform in both the Health, Education, and Labor Pensions 

(HELP) and the Finance Committee. Both Senator Coburn and 

Senator Grassley offered amendments to require Members of Congress to purchase health care in the same situation, same basis 

changes or a plan produced by whatever legislation came up. 

November 18, 2009, the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act 

was introduced into legislation, and it included language similar to 

Dr. Coburn’s, which required Members and staff to enroll in one of 

the new health insurance programs created by the bill. 

Now, there was no provision for an employer contribution. So 

Senator Grassley tried to offer an amendment, which was never 

voted on during that process, and of course, Obamacare was passed 

on Christmas Eve. 

March 24, 2010, Senator Grassley again introduced an amendment during the debate on Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act that would have allowed an employer contribution that 

could be used only to purchase insurance through State-based exchanges, which is what was required under Obamacare. 

That amendment failed, 43–56. So Congress expressly stated 

that no employer contribution would be allowed into the health 

care plans that Members of Congress had to buy through the exchanges. 

Fast forward. On October 2, 2013, as we were approaching the 

implementation of Obamacare, in some way, shape, or form, the Office of Personnel Management came up with a scheme to allow 

Members of Congress to be viewed as a small employer with 50 employees, even though we have over 10,000, to purchase insurance 
12 

through Small Business Health Operations Program (SHOP) exchange, which did allow an employer contribution. 

On October 9, 2013, Senator David Vitter requested information, 

documents in terms of how OPM reached that conclusion. 

On January 6, 2014, I initiated a lawsuit to overturn what I 

think is an unlawful ruling. 

Fast forward to February 2, 2016, Senator Vitter again requested 

information because he had not received any documentation. February 5, 2016, in a hearing on Beth Cobert’s nomination for OPM 

Director, I asked her to commit to help me get that information. 

February 24, 2016, Vitter again wrote OPM asking for those 

documentations. Finally, on March 15, 2016, OPM provided limited 

documents, did not really tell us much. 

I have continued to request that information. August of this year, 

I requested the documents again. I was provided on September 1 

the same documents that David Vitter was provided, again, no information. So on October 4, I wrote another follow up letter saying 

that I might have to subpoena the records. 

So, Dr. Pon, what I am asking you is a commitment to provide 

that information if you become Director of OPM. 

Mr. PON. Sir, thank you for meeting with me, first of all, and 

highlighting this as a priority for you to get done. I do believe it 

is a very important issue, and the request, I believe, has been recognized in OPM. And they are in the process of providing you documentation of which I do not know the extent of which the documentation if confirmed, I will make sure that I look into it myself 

personally. I will make sure that if there is any documentation to 

be provided to you, I will inform you what the status is and make 

sure that we will follow up on it. 

Obviously, this is Federal Employee Health Benefits. I know of 

no other organization in the private sector, to the best of my knowledge, that actually provides a contribution to a public exchange. 

So with that said, if confirmed, I will be responsive to the request 

that you have currently, and I will be hopefully reviewing all of the 

materials that are available to OPM in regards to your concern. 

Chairman JOHNSON. OK. Thank you. 

Without a doubt, this is special treatment only for Members of 

Congress and their staff, and so I will just put the Administration 

on notice. They have basically told us they are going to begin document production on a rolling basis. Unless I am satisfied that that 

is being done in good faith, that I am going to get all the documentation, no offense to you, I will be holding up your nomination. 

And with that, Senator McCaskill. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR CARPER 

Senator CARPER. Mr. Chairman, could I just interject here, not 

to be counted against your time? Could I just make a quick statement? 

Yesterday, an encouraging word out of negotiations between Senators Alexander and Murray on health care, trying to stabilize the 

exchanges—I think this is an issue that just cries out for us to sit 

down and just talk it through. 

I think we have over half the people in this country get their 

health insurance through large group plans. Almost every one of 
13 

them have an employer contribution to their plan. Federal Government, all Federal employees, except—including now us—get some 

kind of employer contribution to the—and we have to pay a share, 

and so do most employees around the country into their—that is 

the way we do—we provide health care in this country. We have 

done it for years, and it makes sense. 

Let us find a way so that the thing that I do not want to end 

up with is saying we are going to treat the legislative branch employees differently than every other Federal employee and differently—— 

Chairman JOHNSON. Take a look at how you voted for those 

things. 

Senator CARPER. No. This would be a great—rather than just 

like going back and forth, let us just sit down and work this out. 

If Lamar and Patty can make the kind of contribution and progress 

they did on a much harder issue, we ought to be able to work this 

out. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Yes. But again—— 

Senator CARPER. And I pledge to do that with you. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Happy to. I will be introducing, hopefully, 

a piece of legislation today or tomorrow in terms of CSRs, but 4 

years, I have been trying to get this information for 4 years and 

have not been able to do it. I have run out of patience. 

So I think this is an important piece of information to have, 

these levels of documents, and again, I am just saying I want 

that—but I think that will be part of the record—so we can actually come to a conclusion on this, OK? Senator McCaskill. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Let me just point out what I think is obvious that no Member of Congress is required to take the employer 

contribution. So if you voted to not take an employer contribution, 

then you have the ability to turn it down. 

I certainly feel for what Senator Carper was addressing. It 

seemed terribly unfair to our staffs that every member of the Federal Government gets a Federal contribution for help with their 

health care, like most people who work in businesses in this country. It is terribly unfair to sacrifice them at the altar of politics, but 

certainly, every member has an individual decision they can make 

about whether or not they take the employee contribution. They 

have that freedom of choice. So you can be consistent with your 

vote if you want to be, those who voted to do that. 

Let me ask this first question of all of the witnesses. We had a 

controversial legal opinion coming out of the Office of Legal Counsel earlier this year at the Department of Justice (DOJ), and it basically said that there was no obligation on the Federal Government to respond to Ranking Minority Members on oversight requests. 

I have been grateful that seems to have been walked back, and 

I think most, if not all, of the nominees that have appeared in front 

of this Committee have said, no, absolutely, they would respond to 

requests from Minority Members as well as Majority Members in 

terms of oversight. 

But I want to make sure I actually get everybody on the record. 

Do you agree or disagree with this legal opinion, and are you will-
14 

ing to provide oversight documentation to both Minority and Majority Members of Congress? Dr. Pon. 

Mr. PON. I will be responsive to the request both from the Majority and Minority. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Thank you. Mr. Rigas. 

Mr. RIGAS. Yes, Senator McCaskill. I will also be responsive to 

requests, both from the Majority and Minority Members. 

Senator MCCASKILL. And Ms. Murphy? 

Ms. MURPHY. Yes, Senator. As someone who has spent 9 years 

of oversight on the Hill, I will be very responsive to both Members 

of the Minority and the Majority. 

Senator MCCASKILL. You feel our pain, don’t you? 

Ms. MURPHY. I do. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Dr. Pon, as you and I have been very involved in the National Background Investigation Bureau (NBIB) 

stand-up. We had a really bad situation going on with a contractor, 

and we had high-profile mistakes in terms of security clearances. 

So we have tried to stand up this bureau to handle all of the background checks for over 100 Federal agencies. 

And obviously, we still have a significant backlog. 

Mr. PON. Yes. 

Senator MCCASKILL. And I am worried that we have made 

progress and because we have not quite gotten to the Promised 

Land, the Department of Defense is now saying, ‘‘Well, we want 

ours back.’’ 

Mr. PON. Yes. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Can you address this and what your view 

is on how we can continue to make progress in this important area 

in terms of the centralized, professionalized ability for the government to do reliable background checks on employees with classified 

and sensitive information? 

Mr. PON. Senator, thank you for your question. My personal experience with many of the services, including background investigations, is that the Federal Government at times puts certain resources in many different organizations, and inconsistencies happen as a result, both from a policy standpoint and also from a service standpoint. 

My experience in providing shared services such as payroll and 

others is making sure that there is standardization, unification, 

and simplification. Many of the things that we do, we overcomplicate. 

In regards to the backlog, I do know that you know the history 

of it, coming over to OPM in 2005, and then we had the mishap 

of losing everybody’s security background investigations. And then 

we had a workforce issue due to that from the contractors leaving. 

We never recovered that capability, but we have built it back, now 

that the NBIB is stood up. It has been about a year. We are evaluating their performance, and it seems as though it is stabilizing the 

investigations process, yet still we need to make substantial results 

in terms of whittling down the backlog. 

Obviously, there are two parts of the backlog. One is the incoming and growing incoming and also the management and adjudication of the different types of investigation files. 
15 

Background investigations itself, we have many different methods of looking at investigations. And excuse me. When I say ‘‘we,’’ 

the OPM has many different ways of doing that, but it still does 

not replace the doorknockers, if you will, going to a person’s neighborhood, employer, and interviewing people. So that at times does 

require some work, but I do believe that I have read Acting Director McGettigan’s concerns about moving it, including DOD, and 

proper planning is required currently for looking at whether or not 

it is feasible. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Thank you. 

Another question for you. One of the challenges with acquisition 

is, of course, there has to be rules, so we do not have sweetheart 

contracts. We do not have no-bid contracts. We do not have ‘‘It is 

who you know, not what you can perform.’’ We have to make sure 

we are getting value for our money. 

But there is a sweet spot, and the Chairman is right. Sometimes 

we have made this overly complex. The same thing can be said for 

hiring, and as I mentioned to you, Dr. Pon, in our meeting, the best 

example I can give of this is the one that Heather Wilson told me 

when we were at the Air Force Base in Missouri. She sent over for 

hiring at OPM someone to do the simulator training on the F–35, 

and she was very upset when it came back that they would not approve this hire because the person had not had enough experience 

flying the F–35. 

For those of you who do not realize what that means, the F–35 

has not flown yet. So no one is going to have experience flying the 

F–35. It is a new aircraft, and so the idea that they were disqualified on that basis just shows how nonsensical the hiring process 

has become in terms of trying to make it more efficient. 

You and I have talked about this. Do you think you can make 

a sizable dent? Are you willing to predict? Can you get hiring down 

to 3 months? Can you get it down to 30 days? What is your goal 

in terms of how quickly we can get hiring done? 

Mr. PON. Senator, thank you for that question. Making sure that 

we can have efficient and effective hiring is utmost of importance. 

It does take a considerable amount of time. 

In my experience, I have had to, quote/unquote, push the bureaucracy to get results. At the U.S. Department of Energy, we had 

a conference locally here having to do with nuclear engineers, and 

if I looked at the general schedule (GS) which I could hire for, it 

was a difference of $37,000 to $125,000 in the private sector, and 

they could beat us by hiring on the spot. So what we did was we 

literally had a bunch of our HR people look and classify the incoming resumes that they typed on USAJOBS and then classified 

them, interviewed them at the spot. And within 2 days, we actually 

offered up hiring, and we hired three people from that. That was 

really to demonstrate a point that we can do it if we tried and not 

trade the, as I say, pink rock and red rock back and forth. What 

are you looking for? It is not that. And it just slows things down. 

Simplifying things, making sure that managers have management self-service dropdown menus for position descriptions, applicant tracking systems that are much more automated to communicate between the job seeker and also the manager, that will 

speed up the process quite a bit. And I would hope that we can get 
16 

hiring in a reasonable amount of time. I still think 3 months is a 

long time, so that would be under that. 

Senator MCCASKILL. OK. Well, we will have you back in a year 

and look at the numbers. 

I know I am over time, Mr. Chairman, but I probably will not 

be here for a second round. So I will just ask that I will put on 

the record questions about whistleblower protections. It is very important that there is no retaliation for whistleblowers in the government. They do great work. Sometimes they are wrong, but 

many times, they have done great service to this country by blowing the whistle. And I want to make sure that all three of you are 

on the record before your confirmation votes about your attitudes 

and programs to protect whistleblowers from retaliation. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your patience. 

Chairman JOHNSON. And by the way, maybe you were not following this in the House. It did pass our Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick 

Whistleblower Protection Act. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Yes. No, I know. 

Chairman JOHNSON. That was right out of this hearing with 

Sean Kirkpatrick. 

Senator MCCASKILL. I know. I was here. Absolutely. 

Chairman JOHNSON. I also want to quickly clarify the record. 

Senator MCCASKILL. Sometimes the laws do not make a difference, though. I want to make sure that we recommend—— 

Chairman JOHNSON. I know. No, I agree. 

Just to clarify, I am not opposed to employer contribution. I did 

it for 30-some years in my business. 

What I object to is, for example, agencies not following the law 

as written. I object to special treatment for Members of Congress. 

We are the only ones that buy through these SHOP exchanges or 

through a—— 

Senator MCCASKILL. We do not—— 

Chairman JOHNSON. I know we should be, but again, we are the 

ones getting the special treatment. And I really do object to Members of Congress not being sympathetic to the forgotten men and 

women they are working hard. They have been priced out of the 

market, and we are just not doing anything to bring those premiums down. 

So again, and by the way, the Republicans did not have a problem with employer contributions either. They actually voted for the 

Grassley Amendment. That is not what caused the defeat of that. 

Senator CARPER. One last word on this. Again, Senator Alexander and Senator Murray have, I thought, shown a lot of courage, 

a lot of tenacity in negotiating a couple of steps that I think actually provide better health care coverage for some less money, bring 

down costs in the exchanges, stabilize the exchanges, which we 

need to do. And they are smart. They are a couple of smart cookies, 

very good negotiators. 

We have some real smart cookies on this Committee and pretty 

good negotiators as well, and what we need to do is spend some 

more time and energy to figure out how we can make sure that we 

do not put Federal employees who happen to be in the legislative 

branch at an unfair advantage compared to the rest of the workforce and, frankly, Federal workforce compared to the rest of most 
17 

of the people who get coverage, the health care coverage in this 

country. So there has to be a way to work this out, and we look 

forward to doing that. 

Dr. Pon, Mr. Rigas, Ms. Murphy, great to see you all. Thank you 

for your willingness to serve in these capacities. Those of you who 

helped raise these young people, and nurture them and give them 

the kind of values and belief in hard work that obviously that you 

have, thank you for doing that. And for those of you who are later 

or just friends, thank you for being here to support them. 

We have been joined by Senator Portman. He and I have worked 

together on a number of issues that actually fall in your purview. 

One of the things we are working on, especially this year, is to try 

to make it more attractive to incent and encourage Federal employees to actually stay in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), and 

there are some very thoughtful things that we have offered as legislation. I appreciate very much our partnership. 

And I just flag that as something that we are working on. We 

are going to be looking to you for guidance from your vantage 

point, Dr. Pon, Mr. Rigas, and try to produce some smart things 

and actually encourage in ways that I would not have imagined, 

encourage people to stay in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan. 

Dr. Pon and Mr. Rigas, speaking of smart cookies, Beth Cobert, 

who used to be the No. 2 person at the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) and was acting head of OPM and used to run 

McKinsey & Company’s operation out in San Francisco, I have 

urged you to reach out to her. I would urge you to have an ongoing 

conversation. She is one of the smartest people I know. She has before us many times, and she could just be a great asset actually 

to the three of you. And she would be happy to do that. So if you 

have not taken advantage of that, please do. 

And somebody mentioned the issue of real property, at least one 

of you mentioned that in your testimony, and one of my colleagues 

has as well. I have been pleased with how both the Administration 

of George W. Bush and the Administration of Barack Obama took 

a real active role in Federal real property management. I think Rob 

might have been the OMB Director for George Bush at the time to 

actually be behind some of that interest that Administration had. 

Last Congress, several Members of this Committee worked to 

pass two pieces of property reform legislation that will codify many 

of those efforts and help keep the ball moving forward in this area, 

and I would just say, Ms. Murphy, what are your plans to ensure 

that the good work of now two Administrations, good work on real 

property reform continues in this Administration? 

Ms. MURPHY. Thank you very much, Senator Carper, and thank 

you for taking the time to meet with me previously. 

Senator CARPER. It was a pleasure. 

Ms. MURPHY. Federal real property reform is the one GAO highrisk list item for GSA. Addressing it, and making sure that we look 

at opportunities to do a better job with our leases is a priority. 

As I mentioned, we have 100 million square feet in leases at GSA 

that will be expiring over the next 5 years. It is an incredible opportunity to get better deals, and to look at longer-term leases. The 

average GSA tenancy or Federal agency tenancy in a GSA lease is 
18 

about 24 years. Our average lease is 6 years. We are leaving money 

on the table. 

We are underutilizing our Federal buildings, and those that are 

underutilized or unused, thanks to you and Senator Portman, we 

now have a lot of authority to try and expedite the disposal of 

those. I am looking forward, if confirmed, to working with the Federal Real Property Board on actually expediting that reform, expediting that disposal, and trying to make sure that all the data is 

there as soon as that board is set. 

I would also like to work, though, with this Committee on opportunities to look at public-private partnership opportunities so that 

we can get better deals on build-to-suit leases, such as the Department of Transportation (DOT), for example. It is my understanding 

that we have spent $750 million on the Department of Transportation lease over 15 years, and at the time that that lease was negotiated, as I just learned last week, we had the opportunity to 

have a $1 purchase option. But we went back and said, no, we 

needed to have a fair market value purchase option. So we are 

going to pay for that building more than once. I would really like 

to work with this Committee to try and address issues along those 

lines. 

Senator CARPER. All right. Thanks. 

A follow up question, if I could. 

Ms. MURPHY. Yes. 

Senator CARPER. Some of my colleagues have heard me talk 

about this before, but it bears watching. Our Committee used to be 

just ‘‘Governmental Affairs’’ for many years, and more recently 

‘‘Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.’’ But they actually 

kind of meld together around one project, and the project is St. 

Elizabeths. 

I think some of us have been out to St. Elizabeths. Some of us 

have actually visited the headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the last dozen or so years. It is a hard 

agency to manage, 240,000 employees all over the world, a bunch 

of them in this part of the world. They are not in Delaware, but 

they are in Virginia. They are in Washington, D.C. They are in 

Maryland. They are spread all over hell’s half acres, and a lot of 

times, the arrangements do not make much sense. 

Jeh Johnson once said, ‘‘I do not know how somebody could be 

expected to manage an operation like this,’’ and he said, ‘‘When I 

talked into it, I just said, ’You got to be kidding me.’′′ 

And so the idea of St. Elizabeths, I used to think it was a boondoggle, and I actually went out there. I spent plenty of time with, 

I think, every former Secretary of Homeland Security, and they 

convinced me, no, it was not a boondoggle. It was actually a smart 

thing to do. 

And the folks at GSA were smart enough to figure out how to 

get more money, save more money, by consolidating people rather 

than continue to have them spread out all over the place. 

Would you just talk a little bit about this? I have become a believer. I was not initially. Jeh Johnson became a believer. He was 

not initially. But I think in the end, it saves money for us, and it 

actually gives us some hope and prayer of actually being able to 

better manage a huge unwieldy operation. 
19 

Please go ahead, Emily. 

Ms. MURPHY. Thank you, Senator. 

If confirmed, making sure the Department of Homeland Security 

has the headquarters they need to protect us all is going to be one 

of my top priorities. 

I too have been out and visited the campus. I have seen the 

beautiful building they built for the Coast Guard. I have seen the 

work that is taking place in the Secretary’s office. I believe that is 

going to be completed early next year, and so we will be able to 

start moving more of the DHS employees out there. 

It is an ongoing process, and I know that we are working closely 

with DHS right now on a revised plan to provide to you and to the 

Committee. 

Senator CARPER. Thank you, one and all. Thanks. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR TESTER 

Chairman JOHNSON. Senator Tester. 

Senator TESTER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank 

each and every one of you for your willingness to serve. And I 

mean that. 

I am going to focus most of my questions around the Veterans 

Administration (VA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS), mostly 

the VA, and I will start with you, Ms. Murphy. 

The VA has its own independent legislative authority to lease 

medical clinics around the country. Recently, Congress authorized 

28 leases, one in Montana, and quite frankly, the process for leasing is incredibly slow. In other words, we got it through Congress 

finally, and we have a line of veterans in a facility that is way too 

small. 

And I talked to my folks that are in the State to find out how 

things are moving along, and they are saying it is going to be a 

minimum of a year and probably longer before they get moved into 

a new space. That is incredibly disheartening for me when we 

know that there is a problem that needs to be dealt with. 

So I would ask this. Do you have any ideas on how to speed that 

process up, how to make—I mean, I know you have responsibility 

here, and so does the VA. But at some point in time, both agencies 

need to work together and get this going. It should be done by the 

first of the year, in my opinion, but I may be unreasonable in that 

request. 

Do you have some ideas on how we can speed this process up of 

leasing between agencies? 

Ms. MURPHY. Thank you very much for the question, Senator. 

I agree we need to do a better job making sure that our veterans 

have the medical facilities they need. 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Ms. MURPHY. In my role as a Senior Advisor at GSA right now, 

I am aware that we are actually working with VA—— 

Senator TESTER. Yes. 

Ms. MURPHY [continuing]. To see if we can help them with their 

leasing. We have some contracts in place that can help speed up 

the leasing authorities, and we have a national broker contract and 

also something called the Automated Advanced Acquisition Pro-
20 

gram (AAAP) process. We are trying to do anything we can to help 

them with that process. 

Senator TESTER. OK. So we have a new Administration that has 

come on board, and you have an opportunity here to really make 

a difference. 

I can tell you, as I go around Montana, there is a lot of frustration with GSA, and for the last 10 years, there has been frustration 

with GSA, to the point where I had one person tell me they are 

not happy until I am unhappy. 

And so there is some opportunity for success here, and I can tell 

you that the little bit of common sense, looking at things, cutting 

the red tape, I think you can do this. And I just want you to know 

that. You have support on this Committee to do that, and so we 

will be pushing you to do that. I will be pushing you to do that at 

least. 

I want to talk a little bit about qualified medical professionals, 

and I want to go back to you, Mr. Rigas. And I am going to preface 

this by saying that the President has talked about giving all the 

veterans a card and say go wherever you want. That is what he 

said during the campaign. 

In your previous work with the Heritage Foundation, at least in 

my bio of you—and you can correct if this is wrong—it says you 

worked to advance free market and limited government policy solutions, which is—I am OK with that, but when it comes to the VA, 

that sounds like you want to privatize the VA. Could you give me 

some sort of assurance that that is either what you want to do or 

what you do not want to do? 

And why I say this, because you are going to be in a position of 

hiring people, and I am going to get to another question with Jeff 

and you on this, that if you do not hire people, you are going to, 

in fact, be privatizing the VA. 

Go ahead. 

Mr. RIGAS. Thank you, Senator Tester. 

In my role at the Office of Personnel Management, if confirmed, 

would be to assist agencies meeting their strategic needs, working 

with the heads of agencies and their chief human capital officers 

to ensure that their needs are being met. 

I have had my most recent experience at the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services. It was a great opportunity for me 

to work directly with providing benefits to veterans, and I would 

look forward to finding, helping the VA get the resources it needs 

and the flexibilities it needs in terms of hiring to be able to adequately meet needs for our veteran population. 

Senator TESTER. I appreciate that. Thank you for that answer. 

The VA and IHS are incredibly understaffed. If I was going to 

say we have one problem, it is staffing and then it is facilities. And 

VA has many problems, by the way, but those are the two biggies. 

And in Montana, I can tell you unequivocally, there are tons of 

positions that are not being filled, and these are doctos, these are 

nurses, these are medical professionals. And I got it. There is a lot 

of competition in the marketplace. 

But, Jeff—and you can jump in on this too, Michael, if you 

like. But, Jeff, can you tell me what we can do to make this hiring—because, quite frankly, what happens is we get a doctor on the 
21 

hook, and by the time the gavel drops, they have been working for 

a private hospital 60 days or 90 days quicker. Can you tell me how 

we can speed this process up and make it a priority? 

Mr. PON. Absolutely. So making sure that we have the right people is OPM’s mission—right people, right place, right time—making sure that we can have a world-class work environment for our 

workers. And doctors at the VA, they are just in the front lines of 

taking care of our veterans. That is a personal passion of mine to 

make sure that our veteran population has the care it needs. 

In terms of hiring, we need to speed things up. We need to make 

sure that everyone all the way down the line actually understands 

the authorities that they have, and if they do not have those authorities, I will talk to you and your constituents and make sure 

that we can discuss the issues, the challenges of hiring and retaining the talent that you have and making sure that we can take a 

look at what we need to get to get the right talent on board. 

Senator TESTER. Perfect. 

And if they are not utilizing those authorities, can you be 

proactive about telling us about that? 

Mr. PON. Absolutely. I will be happy to brief everybody about 

that. 

Senator TESTER. One of the other things you are responsible for, 

Ms. Murphy, is the fact that you can get rid of underutilized property. There is a proposal. It is mainly at the House at this moment. 

By the way, I do not have a problem with this, getting rid of underutilized property. 

Here is where I have the problem. I just talked about the staffing. There is several clinics in Montana, community-based outpatient clinics that have not had a doctor in years, not because 

they do not need a doctor. It is because the VA or OPM or maybe 

both have dillydallied around about filling those positions. So if we 

did a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), it would make it look 

like those clinics are underutilized. 

How would you deal with that situation where the underutilization is really caused by the agency more than it is caused by the 

need on the ground? 

Ms. MURPHY. Thank you, Senator. 

If confirmed, I would really want to work with VA and with this 

Committee to make sure we understood all the potential ramifications of disposal before we would move forward. 

Senator TESTER. OK. Thank you very much. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Senator Heitkamp. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HEITKAMP 

Senator HEITKAMP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

First off, along with all of my other colleagues, I want to thank 

you so much for your willingness to serve our country and in roles 

that are not always the most glamorous but are absolutely critically important to making sure that government functions and that 

we spend every dime of Federal taxpayer dollars effectively and efficiently. 
22 

And so I am going to leave Emily alone because she warned me 

that her niece, Jane, would come at me if I was mean to her aunt. 

[Laughter.] 

So, Jane, you are pretty fierce, and so we are going to just thank 

your aunty for all the great ideas she expressed to me. 

And Senator Lankford is not here right now, but I invited all of 

you, the two that I was able to meet with, to always work with our 

Subcommittee. We are very interested in what you find once you 

are there, very interested in working with you to remove congressional barriers to efficiency changes that you would recommend 

and modernization, I would say, and improvements. 

And so I have just a couple targeted questions for you, Jeff. 

Mr. PON. Yes. 

Senator HEITKAMP. In August, GAO released a report that examined OPM’s efforts since the 2015 data breaches to prevent, mitigate, and respond to future breaches. The report concluded that 

OPM has made progress in implementing the 19 recommendations 

that were made in the aftermath of the breaches, but some of the 

recommendations still need to be implemented. 

If confirmed, what steps would you take to ensure that OPM 

fully implements these recommendations, and more broadly, what 

steps would you take to ensure OPM remains compliant with the 

Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) and the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards and guidelines and others’ ordinary security practices? 

Mr. PON. Thank you, Senator. 

I think information security is something that we all need to 

work on, on a daily basis. My experience in the Federal Government, we ran eGovernment initiatives, five eGovernment initiatives 

that had large-scale implications such as USAJOBS, the e-Payroll 

initiative, 22 payroll systems going into four shared service centers. 

Many of those systems have‘ to be certified and accredited. I think 

they call it now ‘‘license to operate,’’ and that is having to deal with 

the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), requirements. At the time, it was 853. I believe it is at 871. That is 

the guidance that people take to ensure that the latest protections 

are instituted, and I think that is very important for us to make 

sure that we have professionals that understand that and do it for 

a living and we have the necessary personnel to do that. 

I believe OPM had a target 2 years ago of hiring 6,500 

cybersecurity professionals. I think to date, it is at 8,000-plus. So 

it exceeded its original goal, but I think not just getting the people 

on board to do that, but going through what we are required to do 

and what people have recommended us to do, we needed to be 

hawkish on those management requirements. 

I have worked well with the IG in my previous past as well as 

GAO in looking at their recommendations and taking them under 

advisement and having project plans to close on those things. So 

my priority would be to look at the recommendations that are left 

and act on them. 

Senator HEITKAMP. Dr. Pon, OMB has mandated an evaluation 

of agencies come back with streamlining or come back with perhaps reorganization plans. 
23 

One of the concerns that I have has been this idea that acrossthe-board cuts is the way to do this or you manage to attrition because what you could see is exactly a poaching of those high-profile, high-demand positions, which we then would be starving in exchange for probably overstaffing in other areas. 

Mr. PON. Yes. 

Senator HEITKAMP. So our expectation is that you will be heavily 

involved with OMB, that you will be working hand-in-glove to try 

and help them evaluate personnel needs within agencies. Can you 

commit to us that your work will be seamless with OMB and that 

you will be a fierce advocate for appropriate staffing, not just easy 

staffing? 

Mr. PON. In my previous experience, Senator, with OMB, we had 

no daylight between us—try consolidating 22 payroll systems into 

4 and telling people they are out of the payroll business and going 

to a shared service center. 

OMB played the role of enforcing the laws that Congress gave us, 

such as the Economy Act, Clinger-Cohen Act, the PIA, and 

Antideficiency Act. So they, in essence, had to play the heavy, if 

you will. OPM wanted to make sure that they provided those services to the organization—— 

Senator HEITKAMP. But I also believe, Dr. Pon, that you are the 

first line of defense when agencies say we need this quality of person. 

Mr. PON. Yes. 

Senator HEITKAMP. So you need to be there saying, it may not 

make sense in North Dakota to eliminate positions for Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) while the industry is looking for an appropriate timeframe for permitting. And so we need an advocate for 

common sense, not just what seems to be easy. 

Finally, I think one of the frustrations that we have had, Senator 

Lankford and I have had, is OMB and the IG reports not being listened to, that we not see an appropriate response and, in fact, a 

defensive posture as opposed to ‘‘Wow, that is a really good idea. 

I think I will do that.’’ 

And I want a commitment from all of you that you will listen to 

what the IGs say, you will listen to what GAO says, and that you 

will come back even stronger with even more suggestions for efficiency. 

I want to start with you, Dr. Pon. 

Mr. PON. Absolutely. So again, my leadership style is to be responsive and follow the advice of people that recommend those 

things, but also it is not to just manage the things that we get confronted of. To use your language, we need to be an advocate for 

leadership and having suggestions become more recommendations 

and ideation so that we can actually be creative about managing 

things. 

Senator HEITKAMP. We will just skip to Emily. 

Ms. MURPHY. Yes, Senator. I have always had an excellent relationship with our IG, and I look forward to working with them and 

the GAO. 

Senator HEITKAMP. And I was really impressed that you were 

well aware of the high-risk concerns that we have and that very 

willing to address those on the front end. 
24 

This is our first conversation. It will not be our last in this room, 

and so I pledge to you to be a forceful advocate for your agencies 

that you look at reforming and doing the work that you need to do. 

We are all in this together. 

So thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Senator Lankford. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR LANKFORD 

Senator LANKFORD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator Heitkamp and I work on these issues a lot. So when you 

see the two of us on this dais, get used to that because we are 

going to spend a lot of quality time together walking through these 

issues. 

Let me make the request of you now that she and I will make 

the request of you every time we get together. When we talk about 

a problem and an issue, whether it is in personnel issues or whether it is GSA or OPM, whatever it may be, we are going to ask you 

a simple question: Where is the problem? Draw a line down the 

middle. Tell us where you already have authorities to fix this. Tell 

us what authorities you need from Congress to fix this. I do not 

want to have 2 years from now us all pointing to each other and 

saying you have authority to do it and you are saying I need three 

words added different in one law or I am stuck. We need to be able 

to find a way to collaborate and work together. 

So I will assure you that we will work together on these issues. 

We want to have a collaborative relationship because at the end of 

the day, the American people do not need to hear it is somebody 

else’s fault. They just want it fixed. So we want to make sure that 

we have an ongoing dialogue in the days ahead. 

We have all visited in my office and had the opportunity to be 

able to talk through some of these issues already, but I just want 

you to be able to hear publicly, we want to solve these things. We 

do not want to have a combative relationship. That does not help 

anybody. It helps us if we solve it. 

So it is now 400-plus days to hiring for some agencies. We have 

120 different hiring authorities out there that almost no one uses. 

They all ask for just direct-hire authority, though there is 120 

other authorities that are there. 

We have Federal properties that we have had empty for more 

than a decade in trying to figure out what to do with them and how 

to be able to dispose of them. We all see the issue. We have just 

got to find a way to be able to work together to be able to work 

it out and to be able to actually get this done. So that is what we 

look forward to actually doing. 

Let me make just a couple of direct questions to each of you. 

Dr. Pon, thanks for your commitment, what you have already 

done, for our visits already. You and I talked about the retirement 

system for Federal employees. This is something only Federal employees would think about, but for Federal employees that actually 

go to retirement and get there, they assume their benefits kick in, 

and they find out it is actually maybe 6 or 9 months later, their 

benefits kick in because of the bureaucracy in the process, because 

of literally tens of thousands of file cabinets and pieces of paper 

and someone is trying to track down that piece of paper. 
25 

Now, if I go into a normal workplace now, they have an electronic system. For some of them, that begins all the way in the hiring process, maintains that file. Even if they move to different departments, it remains consistently. They do their yearly evaluation 

in that system, and when they do a retirement, it also kicks into 

that system. 

We have nine different processes—half of them paper, half of 

them electronic, some of them in cobalt in that process. We desperately need someone to be able to help us work that process out. 

What can you tell me about your plans on dealing with that process, just to be able to streamline it? 

Mr. PON. I can imagine a future where we have electronic recruitment all the way to retirement and death benefits. 

Senator LANKFORD. That exists. That is not some myth. 

Mr. PON. That is right. 

Senator LANKFORD. That actually exists in the commercial marketplace. 

Mr. PON. That is right. So the technology is not the problem. It 

is actually making sure that we execute on putting things together 

and simplifying things and making sure that the transactional 

data—not just paper, but transactional data that you need can actually be transacted in an efficient and effective manner. 

I would prioritize the things that we need to process things, to 

keep things moving, and then worry about the paper a little bit 

longer in dual process. 

Senator LANKFORD. Does that start with a single agency as an 

experiment, or does that start governmentwide? Where does that 

begin? 

Mr. PON. I think there are pockets of the government that actually do this well, and there needs to be some sharing of best practices there, but making sure that we can demonstrate the principle 

of having a digital record be transferred from agency to agency and 

also start accepting digital files for the processing of retirement 

systems. 

Senator LANKFORD. OK. I would only tell you that United States 

Customs and Immigration Service started 10 years ago to be able 

to update their system for visas, and it is still not done. Fifteen 

years ago, DHS started the process of trying to combine all their 

HR systems into one place, and it is still not done. 

So while I say there are obvious solutions that are out there, we 

have had a lot of folks sit in that same chair and say, yes, this 

needs to be done, but we have big areas that are unresolved that 

are incredibly significant and slow the process down. 

Mr. PON. Sure. 

Senator LANKFORD. So we look forward to working together. 

Let me just ask a blunt question: Do we need 120 different hiring 

authorities in the Federal Government? 

Mr. PON. I believe that if we are not using them, we do not. 

Senator LANKFORD. Yes. I do not think we do, and it is one area 

that we want to be able to work together to say what do we really 

need, what is the best way to accomplish this, how do we set standards for agencies on how they should accomplish hiring and allow 

them to be able to do that hiring. So let us work together to be able 

to resolve that. 
26 

Mr. PON. Looking forward to it. 

Senator LANKFORD. Ms. Murphy, you have a big job. You have 

millions of acres of property inside. Some of them are empty currently, but for most any entity in most any city, they say the Federal Government is a great landlord because they always pay the 

rent that is out there on it, but it does not mean it is actually occupied. And they do not want it disposed of, and some communities 

actually fight us from disposing a property because they like just 

the anchor of that being there. 

But we have a lot of unused space. How do we fix this problem? 

Because for years, there has been this conversation about fixing it. 

We have done some bills of late to try to resolve this. How do we 

fix it long term? 

Ms. MURPHY. Thank you, Senator. 

When I talked about reducing duplication, I really do mean we 

need to look at the duplication we have in Federal space, and better utilize the space we have, and dispose of the space that is either underutilized or unused. 

Since I have been back at GSA since January in my role as a 

Senior Advisor, I have been monitoring the collection of data we 

are putting into the Federal Real Property Profile Database, which 

is going to go in and list out all those properties and the utilization 

rates. For the first time, I think this December, we will have the 

information from other agencies in there as well. So that when we 

have that board in place and the new expedited disposal authorities, we will be able to give them some real data to go in and 

crunch and analyze, and then GSA is ready to implement the disposal as soon as we get the sign-off from that board. 

Senator LANKFORD. So with that utilization—which by the way, 

that is a tremendous asset, and I am glad to see that is on track 

to be able to get to that because the basic transparency to be able 

to see it—— 

Ms. MURPHY. Yes. 

Senator LANKFORD [continuing]. Is what every American assumes we have and we have never had. 

With the utilization, does it actually include utilization of the 

space or just GSA saying this space is rented, some Federal agency 

has rented it, or some Federal agency actually using that space? 

And you know what I mean. There are some spaces that are out 

there—— 

Ms. MURPHY. Right. 

Senator LANKFORD [continuing]. That are rented by an agency, 

but they have been empty for decades. But we are still paying the 

rent. 

Ms. MURPHY. So we have to work with our tenant agencies to get 

that information, and we are trying to get that information. In 

some cases, we have better information than others. I would love 

to partner with OPM on getting more information on where people 

are. 

Senator LANKFORD. Yes. That would be a terrific asset for all of 

us because we have to make decisions. You have to make decisions 

on managing property. 

Ms. MURPHY. Right. 
27 

Senator LANKFORD. We have to make decisions in oversight on 

whether the property that is being rented is actually being used, 

and if not, we may need to combine some folks and to be able to 

find good space that is actually less expensive or that they do not 

need to rent at all. 

So I appreciate the cooperation on this, and we will be able to 

work together on it. 

So thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Senator Hassan. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HASSAN 

Senator HASSAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to 

the nominees for being here today and your willingness to serve, 

and a special thank-you to your families because know this is a 

family affair when people step up to take these jobs. So I am very 

grateful to all of you. 

Mr. Pon, I wanted to start with a couple of questions for you. I 

was grateful for the meeting we had a few weeks ago, and during 

the meeting, we discussed the issue of workforce training. 

Mr. PON. Yes. 

Senator HASSAN. As you know, funding for workforce training is 

an easy target when agencies are looking at ways to save money. 

Too often, Federal workforce is viewed as a cost, not as an asset, 

and training dollars are among the first to go. And here we are in 

this quickly evolving knowledge-based digital economy where in 

order for our workers to be effective, but also to be retainable in 

that role, they need to make sure that they can be trained in this 

changing technology and economy. 

So what will you do to ensure there are adequate resources 

across the Federal Government and within OPM to train and prepare a knowledge workforce to meet challenges today and in the future? 

Mr. PON. So it is interesting, that question, Senator, because we 

tend to manage money much better than people. We have a process, a rigorous process. You have your cost accounting managers 

and your financial planning and analysis. Where is the counterpart 

in the planning of your people? 

In many organizations, whether public or private sector, I wanted to make sure that each and every one of the organizations that 

I work with had a human capital plan or a resource plan for their 

people. 

Understanding what knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences 

you need for executing the mission is very vital, but having each 

and every manager understand who is working with them and actually identifying where they are and where they need to be and 

how do we close the gap training, identifying that type of need 

across an agency is fundamental for us planning and resourcing 

them adequately. 

I do believe, and I agree, that the first thing usually to go in public sector and private sector is the training budget, but I do also 

believe that people are our number one asset. And if you do not invest in their development, you are going to have a stagnant workforce. 
28 

We talk about the modernization of the workforce, having to 

focus in on digitization, segmentation, and personalization. Well, 

not many of our workers have actually lived that type of experience. So how do we acquire that? How do we train people up? 

So that is the type of rigor that I would suggest for agencies. 

Senator HASSAN. So I have your commitment to really elevate 

the importance of appropriate workforce training across agencies? 

Mr. PON. You do. 

Senator HASSAN. Thank you. 

I want to follow up to Mr. Pon on Senator Lankford’s questions. 

Another issue we discussed during our meeting was the long case 

review periods at OPM. 

Mr. PON. Yes. 

Senator HASSAN. And my office in State has received just a number of requests for help from Granite Staters whose cases with 

OPM, which are often related to really important timely issues, 

such as health insurance coverage, disability, retirement, have 

taken really many months to resolve. 

I really appreciate how hard people are working at OPM and 

how hard our civil servants work when they are processing these 

cases, but I am sure you can understand the frustration our constituents feel when they cannot get a human on the phone—— 

Mr. PON. Yes. 

Senator HASSAN [continuing]. Or a specific update on their status 

of their inquiry. 

So I know that you expressed willingness in our meeting to address this issue, but what steps will you take to ensure that OPM 

cases are treated in a timely way? And at a staffing level, how can 

you guarantee that you have adequate personnel and resources in 

your casework division? 

Mr. PON. Thank you, Senator, for that question. 

I think the frustration of processing benefits or background investigations or even retirement is unacceptable. We do need to do 

a better job in doing that. 

I think digging out of the paper and getting to a digital environment where you can have a lot of self-service and tiered services, 

where you can go and seek out the information and understand 

where your status is, is the first step. 

The second step is to make sure that you have tiered services 

that are adequately resourced with the capability and capacity to 

respond to the need and service level. 

If we were to establish service levels for getting back to people 

and resolving issues, that would be a big first step in making sure 

that we are customer driven. 

Senator HASSAN. That would be very helpful. I think that focus 

on what you can do now to make sure that you are getting back 

to people, whether it is staff in a congressperson’s office calling you 

or whether it is the constituent themselves, and then working on 

the long-term strategies. 

Mr. Rigas, I wanted to touch base with you because in your testimony, you reference some of the challenges OPM has faced in recent years. 

As you know, in June 2015, OPM announced several security 

breaches that had occurred regarding Federal employees’ personal 
29 

data. Just 2 months ago in August 2017, GAO issues a report that 

found that OPM continues to lag in fully implementing recommended data security practices that could help secure Federal 

employee information from those kinds of crippling cyber-attacks. 

Responding to this ever-evolving issue of cyber threats is a constant challenge, and it requires the Federal Government to act 

with the same degree of flexibility and adaptability as those who 

are launching the attacks to. 

Two years of inaction on this front is not going to get the job 

done. In your testimony, you state that if you are confirmed, you 

hope to focus on building on the work already undertaken to improve IT at OPM and restore the confidence of the public in the 

agency’s ability to safeguard critical data. I would like you to just 

expand on that by describing in more detail what steps you plan 

to take to improve data security practices at OPM. 

Mr. RIGAS. Thank you, Senator. 

As you mentioned, information technology was one of the items 

referenced in GAO’s high-risk report. One of the first things I 

would do, if confirmed, would be to work with the internal and external stakeholders involved in the information technology area for 

OPM, and that would include both the Chief Information Officer 

(CIO) and the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to assess 

what progress has been made to date, what their plans are for ongoing progress, and assess if we need to change course, if we are 

on target, to meet the security and data protection needs that I 

think the Federal Government demands and that the public would 

demand for Federal employee data. 

Senator HASSAN. Well, thank you for that. 

And I am out of time. Mr. Murphy, I just wanted to thank you 

for meeting with me in my office, and I do not have any questions 

for you at this time. But congratulations on your nomination again. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Senator Hoeven. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HOEVEN 

Senator HOEVEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Pon, the Office of Personnel Management both writes policies 

but also sells software to the other agencies. So does that create 

conflicts of interest, and how do you handle those conflicts of interest? 

Mr. PON. Yes. There are certain services that OPM provides, and 

primarily, many of them are Human Resources Information Technology (HRIT)-related. So the subject-matter expertise that the fine 

men and women in OPM has, has a particular technical skill. 

Working with the contracting office as well as the customer requirements on certain things like USA staffing is an example of 

providing services for the Federal Government. 

I do believe that agencies do have a choice with different types 

of contracting vehicles. With OPM, in particular, I think the big 

differentiator is the technical experience that the Office of Personnel Management has. 

Senator HOEVEN. So you think that agencies have enough discretion so that there is not a conflict there? They can make a decision 

as to which software product they want to use? 

Mr. PON. That is correct. 
30 

Senator HOEVEN. All right. 

Mr. Rigas, this question goes to competition as well, and your 

largest customer is the Department of Defense, provides over half 

of OPM software, solutions, revenue. I guess the question, is this 

a situation where you have kind of a captive market, and if so, does 

that make you truly competitive and innovative in the products 

that you provide to the DOD? 

Mr. RIGAS. Thank you, Senator. 

I believe it is important for OPM to have a fair, open, and transparent competitive bidding process. If confirmed, I would certainly 

like to work with you and other Members of this Committee to address any concerns you might have with regard to the primary care 

that the agency has undertaken. 

One of the first things I would do is, as I sit down with each of 

the program managers to assess where we are and what progress 

needs to be made, figure out what is going on with these individual 

procurements, if there are other competitively available providers 

for these services, and have they submitted bids or what led to the 

situation that you currently described, and if there is any action we 

can take to remediate that. 

Senator HOEVEN. I think that is a good answer. I think that is 

important. Outside vendors have to feel like they have a fair and 

competitive shot so that the customer, be it DOD or whomever, 

gets the best product, and that you have to be willing to compete 

in the same way. 

Mr. RIGAS. Yes. 

Senator HOEVEN. Your background lends itself to the answer you 

just gave and making sure that happens, so I am encouraged to 

hear that. 

Mr. RIGAS. Thank you, Senator. 

Senator HOEVEN. Ms. Murphy, what challenges do you see with 

GSA from the standpoint of concerns about wasteful spending, 

some outdated practices, backlog of empty real estate? What are 

some of the things that you are going to bring in terms of innovation, transparency, accountability, and I guess build confidence in 

GSA and the job that they are doing? 

Ms. MURPHY. Thank you very much for the question, Senator. 

Competition in reducing waste and increasing transparency are 

two of the four things I am really hoping to work on at GSA. 

Within the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), which does over $50 billion in contracts on behalf of other agencies each year, I 

would like to work to make sure that the ceiling prices that are 

being set for agencies are just the beginning. So we set a price on 

our GSA Schedule contracts. It is, more or less, like the rack rate 

on the back of the hotel room door. It is the most you are ever 

going to pay. We want to make sure that GSA’s contracting officers 

and our policies support really vigorous competition at the task 

order level, because that is the amount we are actually going to 

spend, and so we get the best deal there, that we get the most competition we can there. 

Part of that also, though, means reducing barriers to entry for 

other companies that want to do business with the Federal Government, so we have as many companies and approaches as possible 

as part of that solution. 
31 

It is the same thing on the Federal building side, making sure 

that we are working to identify the best vendors of leased space, 

that we are really competing the contract vehicles when we are 

doing construction. GSA has recently implemented a new construction manager-at-risk process to try and reduce the cost overruns in 

those construction contracts. We are working to make sure we dispose of property as we identify it in a timely fashion, that we 

streamline the process for disposing of those properties. 

Senator HOEVEN. Going in there as a manager, how do you do 

that? I mean, do you go out in the field and look at these properties 

and look at the services? I mean, how do you bring that kind of 

innovation to the agency? 

Ms. MURPHY. Senator, I think the first thing you do is talk to 

people. You talk to the GSA employees, and we have great people 

at GSA. I have been fortunate enough to spend the last 9 months 

there working with a lot of these folks. 

A lot of it also is setting clear direction that we are going to put 

the taxpayer first in every deal. We have a goal of reducing the 

footprint, but if the better deal is to have more space, then we go 

for more space if that truly is a better deal. 

That we have clear enforceable goals and that we use performance measures and we hold people accountable for meeting them, 

that we look at ways to modernize those schedule contracts I was 

talking about so that the GSA contracting professionals are not 

spending all of their time setting that ceiling price but are able to 

devote more of their time to going after that task order pricing. 

Senator HOEVEN. In your 9 months that you have been there, 

what has the reaction been, and how do you feel about the progress 

you are making? 

Ms. MURPHY. Well, so I have been there as an advisor in the last 

9 months, but I would say that I have gotten a warm reception 

from GSA. And I think that the new commissioners of the Public 

Building Service and the Federal Acquisition Service are very excited about going forward with similar missions. 

Senator HOEVEN. Do we have a big issue with the backlog of 

GSA facilities, or do you see that a lot of these or the vast majority 

of these properties are marketable, and that you can either rent or 

fill them or sell them or whatever is required? 

Ms. MURPHY. So within GSA’s inventory, once a Federal agency 

determines it does not need space anymore, they excess it to GSA. 

GSA then does an assessment of whether another Federal agency 

can use it and, if not a Federal agency, then we look at charitable 

institutions, nonprofits, or State and local governments. If not, then 

and only then, do we actually put it up for sale. 

GSA, I think—and I could be wrong on this number—I think we 

have disposed of 37 properties this year. GSA does a pretty good 

job of moving those out, but with the new authorities that Congress 

granted last December, I think we will be able to do an even better 

job. 

Senator HOEVEN. OK. Thank you. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Senator Harris. 
32 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HARRIS 

Senator HARRIS. Thank you. 

Mr. Pon, so as you know, the Federal Government represents the 

people of the country, and in order to be most effective, the workforce of the Federal Government should reflect the look of the people that we represent. So I want to ask you a few questions about 

what you have planned, if confirmed, in terms of your role to help 

agencies strengthen diversity among the employees in the Federal 

Government. 

So Executive Order 13583 is called Establishing a Coordinated 

Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in 

the Federal Government Workforce. It was issued under the previous Administration. Are you familiar with that? 

Mr. PON. I have not read the specific text, Senator, but I have, 

in my experience, worked with a lot of diversity and inclusion programs. 

Senator HARRIS. OK. Will you be familiar with it, please, and 

then submit your thoughts about what you can do to pursue and 

continue that policy and what your plans are to strengthen diversity among the workforce, and if you can submit that information 

to me, I would appreciate that. 

And when we look at then these numbers, I will tell you that 

while minority groups are underrepresented in the Federal workforce, this is especially true of the Senior Executive Service. And 

when we look at the number of Latinos, African Americans, Asian, 

and Native Americans, they make up only 19 percent of the SES 

combined. Are you familiar with those numbers? 

Mr. PON. I am, Senator. 

Senator HARRIS. And what are your thoughts about that? 

Mr. PON. I think it takes time to make sure that we are doing 

the right practices so that there is a level of an inclusion not only 

from selection standpoint but also the candidate pools that we 

have. 

I understand, if confirmed, studying up on the current initiatives 

that OPM has in promoting women in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) and making sure that those programs are featured, so that we are recruiting proper numbers in 

our source pool, so that managers do not have an excuse for saying 

there is not a qualified candidate of a diverse background. 

Senator HARRIS. And I am glad you mentioned women, which are 

only 33 percent of the SES positions in the Federal Government. 

Mr. PON. Right. 

Senator HARRIS. So what are your plans specifically for addressing this issue and changing these numbers? 

Mr. PON. Yes. I think, again, it is the candidate pool that you can 

start with. We oftentimes just take for granted—we open something up on USAJOBS, an SES position, and just take for granted 

whatever comes in is the pool that you have. It is everybody’s job 

to actually recruit. Every manager has to sell the mission of the organizations, and if you go into schools and places where you can 

source qualified candidates, that makes the government much 

stronger so that you are getting a better pool of candidates, a diverse pool of candidates, and the managers eventually will have an 
33 

opportunity to get the best and brightest based upon their qualifications and merit. 

Senator HARRIS. Thank you. 

And the OPM issued a strategic plan. Are you familiar with that, 

around diversity and inclusion? 

Mr. PON. I am. 

Senator HARRIS. And do you commit to reviewing the outline and 

recommendations in full and enforcing and implementing the recommendations? 

Mr. PON. I will. 

Senator HARRIS. Thank you. 

Then on the issue of Calexico, I would like to speak with 

Ms. Murphy. Calexico, California, which is on the border with Mexico—in fact, the other side of that is Mexicali. That is an interesting play on the words. The current Calexico West Port of Entry 

(POE) was constructed in 1974. It is outdated and badly in need 

of repair. Wait times for passenger vehicles and pedestrians who 

cross at the Calexico West Port of Entry costs the Imperial County, 

which is the county right there on the border—but it costs us as 

a State and that county, in particular, jobs and economic activity 

and tax revenue. Are you aware of this project, the Point of Entry 

Project there? 

Ms. MURPHY. Yes, Senator, I am. 

Senator HARRIS. And can you tell me what you plan to do about 

addressing the needs of that area and understand, of course, the 

impact as it relates to the people who live in that community? 

Ms. MURPHY. Yes, Senator. If confirmed, I would like to work 

with you and with the Department of Homeland Security, to make 

sure that we are fully committed to modernizing the border crossing station. 

Senator HARRIS. And do you have some thoughts about how we 

can do that? 

Ms. MURPHY. With land ports of entry GSA usually defers first 

to the Department of Homeland Security on what the requirements 

are for the expansion. We work with them to then implement the 

plans that they have. So it is our job to, once they have the requirements, go in and implement it quickly and efficiently. 

Senator HARRIS. OK. Thank you. 

So I look forward to working with you, if confirmed, on that 

issue. It is a big priority for my State. 

And then back to you, Mr. Pon. On October 4, the Attorney General (AG) Jeff Sessions issued a memo stating that Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination encompasses discrimination—which 

includes discrimination between men and women but does not encompass discrimination based on gender identity, per se—this is 

what he said—including transgender status. This was followed by 

an amicus brief filed by the Department of Justice under Sessions 

on July 27, which said that Title VII does not reach discrimination 

based on sexual orientation. 

Notwithstanding these pronouncements, the LGBT Federal employees, in fact, have a right to bring claims under sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination through the Federal Equal 

Employment Opportunity (EEO). 
34 

My question for you is that previously OPM provided training 

and resources to agencies and employees on how to prevent and detect and respond to discrimination based on sexual orientation and 

gender identity. Do you commit to continuing doing that work? 

Mr. PON. If confirmed, I would take a look at what the current 

practices are and enforce the law as it stands right now. My job 

is to make sure that we implement and surround implementation 

with training and development, so agencies can uphold the law. 

Senator HARRIS. Do you understand you would not be in violation of the law to continue the practice of ensuring that Federal 

employees are trained to avoid, to detect, and to report discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation? 

Mr. PON. Senator, if confirmed, I would make sure that I understand the law and enforce the law. 

Senator HARRIS. What do you believe the law to be right now as 

it relates to discrimination against people based on gender identity 

or sexual orientation? 

Mr. PON. So, as you have indicated, training and development for 

making sure that we do not discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity is the current law. 

Senator HARRIS. Thank you. 

Chairman JOHNSON. Thank you, Senator Harris. 

I want to go back to a question that Senator Hassan asked of Mr. 

Rigas and direct this at Dr. Pon. After the OPM breach, hack, we 

held a hearing, and I held a stack of about seven or eight of these 

that the entire Federal Information Security Modernization Act 

audit, it was the one from November 2016. 

Mr. PON. Yes. 

Chairman JOHNSON. They almost could have cut-and-paste the 

summary, but let me just read some of the conclusions: ‘‘This audit 

report again communicates a material weakness related to OPM’s 

Security Assessment and Authorization Program. The audit report 

also reissues a significant deficiency related to OPM’s information 

security management structure. There has been a significant regression in OPM’s compliance with FISMA requirements as the 

agency failed to meet requirements that it had successfully met in 

prior years.’’ 

They do acknowledge that OPM has played a significant effort toward filling these positions that you talked about, the number of 

people who have been hired in cybersecurity, but simply having the 

staff does not guarantee that the team can effectively manage information security. 

This has been a big problem. It has been a big problem for years. 

It has not been adequately addressed. So I just wanted to give you 

the opportunity to kind of lay out what your game plan is going 

to be to finally fix this after literally more than a decade of these 

warnings, with very little being done, and of course, then we saw 

the massive loss of information. 

Mr. PON. Thank you, Senator, for your question. This is my number one priority to make sure that we have security, not only information security, but personal security, making sure that we have 

a safe workplace. 

In regards to the report, I will tell you that on my watch, we will 

make sure that we not only have the qualified people, but we have 
35 

1The information of Mr. Pon appears in the Appendix on page 42. 

2The information of Mr. Rigas appears in the Appendix on page 115. 

a plan to execute and deter the risks that we have. We have a designed threat analysis. I want to make sure that those are robust 

so we can prioritize and alert people on what those risks are, so 

we have a game plan for closing those gaps. 

It is unacceptable to me to have people that are not trained in 

the current ways in which we protect our data, offensive and defensively. These things are moving. The bad actors are getting worse, 

and the level of skill trying to defend our systems against those 

things, we need to up our game and make sure that we have the 

right people, but also we have the right plans and mitigation mechanisms for doing that. And I plan to share that with the Committee, IG, and GAO with those practices that emerge. 

Chairman JOHNSON. We will get into a report within the month. 

I will ask once you are in the position and have time to review 

that, I want to get your response to the Committee in terms of how 

you are going to address the most recent report. 

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the GAO, these are 

important organizations to this Committee. They oftentimes are 

frustrated in their ability to get the proper documentation to do 

their work. So I am going to ask each of you just a simple response, 

yes or no. Will you promise and commit to work with the Office of 

Inspectors General and GAO to ensure access to the documents 

they are going to need to perform their functions? 

Mr. PON. I will. 

Mr. RIGAS. I will. 

Ms. MURPHY. Yes, I will. 

Chairman JOHNSON. OK. Thank you. 

I want to reinforce, I want to underscore what Senator Lankford 

was talking about. We really do have a Committee that operates 

in a very bipartisan fashion, trying to solve problems, maybe not 

massive ones, but kind of how do you eat an elephant, one bite at 

a time. So we have a pretty good track record of identifying a particular problem, defining it properly, and then coming up with bipartisan solutions for that. But we need your help. 

And so what Senator Lankford talked about is there are certain 

things you can do within your authority, certain things you need 

legislative changes to do. We are going to want to help you do that. 

So what I am asking you to do is help us help you. Do not hesitate to contact this Committee for those types of legislative solutions. We can react very quickly, I think very effectively, to get 

those things passed. So I just want to underscore that. 

And really to kind of close out the hearing, I want to thank you 

and again your families. These are important positions. You are 

going to be very busy people, and so I appreciate your willingness 

to serve this Nation, to sacrifice, and your families’ willingness to 

probably see a little bit less of you as you undertake this serious 

responsibility. 

The nominees have made financial disclosures1 and provided responses to biographical and prehearing questions submitted by the 

Committee.2 Without objection, this information will be made part 
36 

1The information of Ms. Murphy appears in the Appenidx on page 169. 

of the hearing record,1 with the exception of financial data, which 

are on file and available for public inspection in the Committee offices. 

Chairman JOHNSON. The hearing record will remain open until 

noon tomorrow, October 19, for the submission of statements and 

questions for the record. 

This hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:40 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 
(37) 

A P P E N D I X 
38 

pages, it is clear we have become penny-wise but pound foolish when it comes to overseeing how 

the government buys goods and services. 

JeffT.H. Pon (nominated to be Director of the Office of Personnel Management) 

Jeff Pon has dedicated his career to human capital management and organizational 

development. He is currently the Chid Human Resources and Strategy Ofticer at the Society for 

Human Capital Management. Prior to that, Dr. Pon worked in the private sector, served as the 

Chief Human Capital Oftlcer at the Department of Energy and as Deputy Director of eGov at the 

Oflice of Personnel Management. During his service in the federal government, Dr. Pon received 

the Grace Hopper Award, the FederallOO Award, and Distinguished Service Awards from the 

Secretary of Energy and the Director ofNationallntelligence. Dr. Pon earned a Ph.D. and a Master 

of Sciences degree from the California School of Professional Psychology, and a Bachelor of Arts 

degree from the University of Southern California. 

Michael Rigas (nominated to be Deputy Director of the Office of Personnel Management) 

Michael Rigas has significant experience in improving and streamlining organizational 

operations in the private, public. and non-profit sectors. Mr. Rigas is currently serving as Senior 

Advisor at the General Services Administration Office of Small Business Utilization. He 

previously served as Chief of Staff at the Massachusetts Depatiment of Veterans' Services and as an 

Associate Administrator at GSA. Mr. Rigas has also worked for the I Ieritage Foundation, the 

Republican Party of Massachusetts, Mellon Financial Corporation. and Brown Brothers Harriman 

and Company. Mr. Rigas earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard 

University and both a Masters of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston 

University. 

Emily Murphy (nominated to be Administrator of the General Services Administration) 

Emily Murphy has over a decade of experience in acquisitions, program management, and 

oversight in the federal government, the private sector, and as a congressional staffer. Ms. Murphy 

is currently serving as a Senior Advisor at the General Services Administration. Prior to that, she 

served on the House Armed Services and Small Business committees. Ms. Murphy worked as 

General Counsel and Vice President for Operations at TerreStar National Services and set up her 

own business in government procurement services. Ms. Murphy also served as Chief Acquisition 

Officer at General Services Administration and as Senior Advisor for Government Contracts and 

Business Development and as Associate Director for Government Contracts at the Small Business 

Administration. Ms. Murphy received a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law 

and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College. 

I'd like to thank the nominees for agreeing to serve in these impmiant positions, and I look 

forward to hearing their testimony. 
39 

STATEMENT OFDR. JEFFT. H. PON 

Nominee to Serve As 

mrector 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management 

before the 

UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON 

HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

October 18,2017 

Thank you Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member McCaskill, and Members of the Committee for 

the honor to appear before you today to discuss my nomination to be the Director of the U.S. 

Office of Personnel Management. 

I would like to thank my family, Gillian, my wife, and my two daughters, Cordelia and Charlotte 

for supporting me through this process and transition to serve if confirmed as the Director of the 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. 

1 would like to thank President Trump for the trust he has put in me to lead and manage the 

Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which as you know is a vital agency to ensuring the 

proper functioning of the Federal government. l would also like to thank the Senators whom 

I've had a chance to visit with prior to today's hearing and their staff I felt we had very honest 

and straightforward discussions about the obstacles we face and I was inspired by their 

commitment to working together to solve the big problems with big ideas. I would also like to 

thank the staff of the Committee that have taken the time to speak with me during this process. If 

confirmed, I am looking forward to leading the hard-working Federal employees of OPM who 

serve the American people. And I would like to thank my friend, Acting Director Kathy 

McGettigan who is here today, for her friendship from our time together when I previously 

served at OPM and her support through this process. 

Page 1 of 3 
40 

My prior professional experience includes working in both the public and private sectors, 

including time at OPM, where lied multiple eGovernment initiatives, and at the Department of 

Energy, where I served as the Chief Human Capital Officer. In the private sector, I have gained 

experience working with companies and organizations of all sizes, and have seen the 

technological advancements they have been able to make to better serve their employees. 

Through this public and private sector experience, I developed a keen understanding of the role 

human resources plays in the success of an organization. Furthermore, I gained first-hand 

knowledge of the challenges Federal managers encounter while accomplishing the mission of 

their organization. I have continually focused on mission driven efforts, and along with the 

knowledge of developing and implementing large scale change, I stand ready to both confront 

the challenges and appreciate the successes ofleading a Federal agency. This understanding of 

how to develop and implement successful large scale change will be important in my role, ifl am 

confirmed as Director. 

OPM, and our Federal government, face many challenges, but I believe we can overcome those 

obstacles. In my lifetime, which I mean as during my service as OPM Director if! am confirmed, 

I want to work with this Committee to tackle the big problems. We have not taken a hard look at 

our civil service laws in decades, we are still relying on paper processes, and in too many areas 

the Federal Government is not a workplace that is keeping up with the demands of the next 

generation of public servants or serving our current Federal employees. We can do better, and 

working together I believe we can implement many of the ideas I have already had the 

opportunity to speak with some of you about in our meetings prior to today. 

If confirmed, I plan to also concentrate on the most important resource at OPM and in the 

Federal government, its people. My imperatives, or non-negotiables, for both myself and for my 

teams are the following: I) always tell the truth; 2) work together as a team; 3) make the tough 

choices; 4) treat everyone with dignity and respect (and demand it back); 5) enhance the 

reputation and accomplishments of those around you (success is defined through the success and 

Page 2 of 3 
41 

accomplishments of others); 6) value differences and 7) create an environment that energizes you 

and the team around you. lfwe integrate these principles into our daily work, I believe we can be 

successful in overcoming the obstacles before us today. 

I would like to include in my testimony today a favorite quote of mine from Thomas Jefferson, 

"As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths 

discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions 

must advance also to keep pace with the times." In my lifetime, I have been fortunate enough to 

see technological advances in the public and private sector, and if confirmed, !look forward to 

leading OPM as it continues to advance to better serve the Federal workforce and as a result, 

better serve the American people. 

Thank you for your consideration and I am happy to answer any questions that you may have. 

Page 3 of 3 
42 

HSGAC BIOGRAPHICAL QUESTIONS FOR 

EXECUTIVE NOMINEES REDACTED 

1. Basic Biographical Information 

Q 

1 
43 

1970 San Francisca, California 

Spouse's first Name Spouse's Middle Name Spouse's Last Name 

Gillian Ann Cordelia Pon 

Gillian Ann Cordelia Glovsky X 10/71 0 1/020 

0 

2 
44 

2. 

Ph.D. !2197 

M.S. 06195 

B.A. 06192 

3 
45 

3. Employment 

(A) List all of your employment activities, including unemployment and self-employment. 

If the employment activity was military duty, list separate employment activity periods to 

show each change of military duty station. Do not list employment before your 18th 

birthday unless to nrovide a minimum of two vears of emnlovment history. 

Type of Em!Jio:~:me!l! 

(Activo Militruy Duty lli!.!.!l StaUon, National 

Guard/Reserve, USPHS Dntc 

Em!Jloyment 

Commissioned C01-ps1 Other Most Location 

Ended 

Emuloyment (monthlyenr) Fedcml emptoymenl, State Name of X our Recent (City ami , Government {Non-Federal Employet•/ .!1Mru! (check box if 

BJTiployment), Self- i!;ssigned .Quty ~tntion Position State (month/year) estimate) 

employment, Tltle/Rnnk only} (check box if (check 

Unemployment, Federat estimate) "present" box 

Contrnctor1 Non~Govcnunent if still 

Employment (excluding self- employed) 

employment), Other ChiefHumO:U 

Non-Government Society for Human Resources ond Alext~ndria, 03/12 Present Strategy VA 

Resource Management omccr 

Non-Government Futures Inc. Chief Durham, 09/ll 02/12 Opemtilig NC Officer 

Federal Contractor Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. Princip.·d Md.en:n, 09/08 Oll/11 VA 

Chief Human 

Otl1er Government United States Deparhnent CspltniOfficer Waslling!on, 01106 09/08 DC Emplo£1nent of Energy 

Other Government United States Office of Deputy Washfngton, 06103 12/05 

Employment Personnel Management Direl!tor, cOov DC 

Non~Govemment Brandsoft Director, Client 08/02 05/03 Services LosGntos, 

CA 

Self-Employed & Self-Employed Orgnni1t1tion San 09/Ql 07/02 Development Francisco, Unemployed ConsuHunt CA 

Non-Government Seagate Technology Senior Scorts 08/00 08/01 

OrgQnizotion Vnlley,CA 

Development 

Commlt;mt 

Non-Government Orand Bottery Prc.::~ldcnt& San 0!199 07/00 coo Frnnclscot Technology- Grand cell CA 

USA 

Noll-Government OPG Consulting OrgoniZlltionol SnnDlego, 2/98 12/98 Dl!vclopmt:nt CA 

Consuft.e.nt 

4 
46 

Non-Government Success Profiles. Drganiwfional Son Diago, 6196 12196 Anolyst CA 

Centre tor Organizational Intern Son Diego, City Government 6/94 4/96 CA 

Effectiveness, City of San 

Diep;O - Otl1er Government White House Office of fnferrt Washington, Employment Public Liaison (Unpaid) DC 6/92 12/92 

Other Government US Senate Officc of Pete In!em los Employment Wilson,CA (Unpoitl) Angole~. 5190 0&/90 

CA 

(B) List any advisory, consultative, honorary or other part-time service or positions with 

federal, state, o1·local governments not listed e I sew I tere .. 

Date Se1-vice Dnte Service Ended 

Name of Government Namo or Position Began (montb/year) (check box 

(month/year} if estimate) (check Entity (check box if ~'prcsenr' box: if still 

estimate) serving) 

4. Potential Conflict of Interest 

(A) Describe any business relatiortship, dealing or financial transaction whicl1 you have had 

during the last 10 years, whether for yourself, on behalf of a client, or acting as an agent, 

that could in any way constitute or result in a possible conflict of interest in the position to 

which you have been nominated. NONE 

(B) Describe any activity dul'ing the past 10 years in which you have engaged for the 

purpose of directly or indirectly influencing the passage, defeat or modification of any 

legislation or affecting the admhilstration or execution of law OJ' public policy, other than 

while in a federal government capacity. NONE 

5. Honors and Awards 

List all scholarships, fellowships, honorary degrees, civilian service citations, military 

medals, academic or professional honors, l10norary society memberships and any other 

special recognition fo1· outstanding service or achievement. 

5 
47 

I 

Depa1•tment of Energy, HR Career Achievement Award, Secretary of Energy Distinguished 

Service Award, DirectQr ofNatlonallntelligencc Distinguished Service Award, FedlOO, 

Excellenee.gov Award, ACT Intergovcl·nmerlctal Award, Grace Hopper Award, eGov 

Explorers Award 

6. Memberships 

Ust all memberships that you have held in professional, social, business, fraternal, 

schola.-Iy, civic, or charitable organizations in the last 10 years, 

Unless relevant to yout· nomination, you do NOT need to Include memberships In 

charitable Ol'ganizations available to the public as a result of a tnx deductible donation of 

$1,000 or less, Parent-Teacher Associations or other orgnnlzations connected to schools 

attended by your children, athletic clubs or teams, nutomobile support organizations (sncb 

as AAA), discounts clubs (such as Groupon Ol' Sam's Club), or affinity 

memberships/consumer clubs (such as frequent flyer memberships). 

!inmo ofOr_gn!Jlzot!on Dat!lll MY our Membcrsbl!l Posltiyn(s) Reid 

' (You may approxlmntc.) 

Pn11nership for Public Service 20 I 0-Present Strategic Advisor lo Government 

Executives (SAGB Program) 

Human Resource Policy Institute 20l2'Present Member 

Anl\enberg Leadership Program 2008-2010 Mentor 

Notionul Academy ofPublic 2007-2008 Pone! Member 

Administration ·- ·--

Society for lndush'inl Orgnnizationn! 20 16-Present Member 

Psychology 

7. Political Activity 

(A) Rave you ever been n candldnte for or been elected or appointed tG a political office'? 

NO 

6 
48 

------- Ycar(s) Election 

Elected/ Annolnted/ J!e!d or Term of Service Namo of Office Candidate Only A!lll!llntment (ifapplicable) · 

Made 

United States PresidentlatP'oU!fcoi Ol/06 09/08 End Chier Humm CMpilal Appa!nlmenl 

Depemnent of Offieer~'fltle: 

Energy 

United Stotes Office Deputy OJrector, tGov t•rcsideuliatPoliticnl 06/0J 12/05 End 1'itlo Appointment 

of Personnel 

Management 

(D) List any offices held in or services •·endercd to a political party Ol' election committee 

during the last ten years that you have not listed elsewhere. NONE 

Nnmc ofParty/Eiection Qffice/Servjces Rendered !!,esnonsibllitlos Dates of 

Committee Sel'Ylce 

-----·----

- (C) Itemize all individual political contributions of $200 or more that you have made in the 

past five years to any individual, campaign organization, political party, political action 

committee, or similar entity. Please list each individual contribution and not the total 

amount contributed to the person OJ' entity during the yea I\ 

7 
49 

[Same of Rec!ntcnt Amount Year of Contribution 

JebBush 1000 2015 

-~ 

----- ---

-

t---· 

8. Publications and Sueeches 

(A) List the titles, publishers and dates of books, articles, reports or other published 

materials that you have written, including articles published on the Internet. Please provide 

the Committee with copies of all listed publications. In lieu of bard copies, electronic copies 

can be provided via e-mail or other digital format. None 

8 
50 

·--

Title Pl!bllshcr Dntc(s) of PUhllcation 

A Model and Process for the Certified National Academy of Public July, 2007 

Administration Assessment of Human Resources (Panel Member) Systems : A Pathway to Assurance. July 

2007 

www.napawash.org/componentltags/tag/cahrsmodel.html 

--

-----

-----·-

(B) List any formal speeches you have delivered during the last five years and provide the 

Committee' with copies of those speeches relevant to the position for which you have been 

9 
51 

nominated. Include any testimony to Congress or any other legislative or administrative 

bodv. These items can be provided electronically via e-mail or other digital format. 

Tltlet:roglc 

SllUCOMMITl'cli !lEA RING: Dl!!LO!NO ON!\ OilS: WHY IS EMJlLOYHH MORA I.E: I.O\V? 

flace/Audlence 

0\IEHSIGIIT ,\:'\U 

Xi.!;:~,\.(lt·:~lliitiFf.'ftJ:k~~IT 

Sl!HCOU!.illli£Ji 

J)J!S 11.\i'I:\Gl;;\JCXr . .\i'Hl 

AC<)t!JStJlON!l 

iVl!\RC:Il22 • .2012 J:{l(l Pfo.·l!JII 

CANNON !lOUSE OFI'ICE 

!JU!LD!NG 

Datc(s) of Speech 

03/22/2012 

1-----------------f---------l---------l 

10 
52 

(C) List all speeches and testimony yQu have delivered In the past ten years, except for 

tllose the text of which von are orovidiue: to the Committee. 

Title Place/Audience Dnte(s} or S!Jeech 

-

.. 

9. Criminal History 

Since (and including) your 18th birthday, bas any of the following happened? 

11 
53 

Have you been issued a summons, citation, or ticket to appear in court in a criminal proceeding against you? 

(Exclude citations involving traffic infractions where tbe fine was less than $300 and did not include alcohol or 

drugs.) 

NO 

Have you been an'ested by any police office•·, sheriff, marshal or any other type of law enforcement official? 

NO 

Havo you been charged, convicted, or sentenced of a crime in any court? NO 

Have you been or are you cUtTently on probation or parole? NO 

Are you CUITent!y on trial or awaiting a ~ial on criminal charges? NO 

To yow· knowledge, have you ever been the subject or target ofa federal, state or local criminal investigation? 

NO 

If the nnswet• to any of the questions above is yes, please answer the questions below for 

each criminal event (citation, arrest, invcstig11tion, etc.). If the event was an investigation, 

whet·c the question below asl<s for information about the offense, please offer information 

about the offense under investigation (if known). 

A) Date of offense: 

n. Is this an estimate (Yes/No): 

B) Description ofthe specific nature ofthe offunse: 

C) Did the offense involve any of the following? 

l) Domestic violence or a crime of violence (such as battery or assault) against your child, dependent, 

cohabitant, spouse, fanner spouse, or someone with whom you share a child in common: Yes 1 No 

2) Firearms or explosives: Yes I No 

3) Alcohol or drugs: Yes I No 

D) Location where the of!ense occurred (city, county, state, zip code, country): 

E) Were you atTested, summoned, cited or did you receive a ticket to appear as a result of this offense by any 

police officet', sheriff, marshal or any other type of law enforcement official; Yes I No 

!) Name of the law enforcement agency that arrested/cited/summoned you: 

2) Location of tho law enforcement agency (city, county, state, zip code, country): 

F) As a result ofthis offense were you charged, convicted, currently awaiting n·ial, and/or ordered to appear in 

court in a criminal proceeding against you: Yes I No 

l) lfyes, provide the name of the court and the location of the comt (city, county, state, ~ip code, 

country): 

12 
54 

2) [fycs, provide all the charges brought against you for this offense, and the outcome of each charged 

offense (such as found guilty, found not-guilty, charge dropped or "nolle pros," etc). If you wero found 

guilty of or pleaded guilty to a lesset· offense, list separately both the original charge and the lesser 

offense: 

3) If no, provide explanation: 

G) Were you sentenced as a result of this offense: Yes/ No 

H) Provide a description of the sentence: 

I) Were you sentenced to imprisonment for a term exceeding one year: Yes I No 

J) Were you incarcerated as a result of that sentence for not less limn one year: Yes I No 

K) If the conviction resulted in imprisonment, provide tlle dates that you actually were incarcerated: 

L) If conviction resulted in probation orpm·ole, provide the dates ofprobntion or parole: 

M) Are you currently on trial, awaiting a trial, or awaiting sentencing on criminal cl1arges fm• this offense: Yes I 

No 

N) Provide explanation: 

13 
55 

10. Civil Litigation and Administrative o1· Legislative Proceedings 

(A) Since (and including) your 18th birthday, have you been a party to any public J'ecord 

civil court action or administrative or legislative proceeding of any lund that resulted in (1) 

a finding of wrongdoing against you, or (2) a settlement agreement for you, or some other 

person ·or entity, to mal•e a payment to settle allegation.~ against you, or for you to take, or 

refrain from taking, some action. Do NOT include sm1111 claims proceedings. NO 

Date Claim/Suit Nnme(s) of WasFlledo•· 

Legislative Court f•·lncinol Parties Noture of MtiQn/Prcceeding Results of 

froceedings Name Involved in Ac!ion/Procccding Action/Proceeding Began 

-· 

(B) In addition to those listed above, have you or any business of which you were an officer, 

director or owner ever been involved as a party ofinterest in any administrative agency 

proceeding or civil litigation? Please identify and provide detalls for any proceedings or 

civil litigation that involve actions taken or omitted by you, or alleged to have been taken or 

omitted by you, while serving in your official capacity. NO · 

Dnte Clalm/Sult Court Prlncl~nl 

~ 

Parties ~nture of A~tlon/Proceeding nesults of 

WnsFiled Name Involvcg In Actlonlfrocceding Actlog[frQ£CC!I!llg 

·-· 

-

14 
56 

(C) For responses to the previous question, please identify and provide details for any 

proceedings or civil litigation thnl involve actions taken or omitted by you, or alleged to 

have been taken or omitted by you, w'hlle serving in your official capacity. 

U. Breach of Professional Ethics 

(A) Have you ever b~Jen disciplined or citecl for a brc;~ch of ethics or unprofessional condu~t 

by, or been the subject of a complaint to, any court, administrative agency, professional 

ass()cfat(on, disciplinary committee, or other prOfessional group? Exclude cases and 

proceedings already listed. NO 

Name of ~ Des£ribc Ci!atfon/Disci)1liY!J..U Alilenc)(!As.•Qcfatlllnl Citntlon/Disaln!lgur~ Results· of Dlsclpllna r£ 

Commlttec/GrouJl ,Adion/ComJllnlnt Actlnn/Complaint ActlonlCOIRJllalnl 

Issucd/(n! lated 

{n) Have you ever been fired from a job, quit a job after being' told you would be fired, left 

a job by mutual agreement following charges or nUegat!ons ofmlsconduet, left ajoli by 

mutual agreement following notice of unsatisfactory performance, o:r received a written 

warning, been officially reprimanded, suspended, or disciplined for misconduct in the 

workplace, such as violatio~ of a security policy? NO 

12. Tax Comuliance 

(l'his information wlll not be published In the recotd of the hen ring qn your nomination, 

but it will be retained, in the Committee's files ntid will be available fo•· public inspection.) 

REDACTED 
57 

ReDACTED 

13. lobbying 

In the p11st Len years, have you registered as a Jobbylst? If so, please iudicatc the state, 

federal, or local bodies with which you have registered (e.g., Housc1 Senate, CalifQi·nla 

Secretary of Stat~). NO 

14, Outside Positions 

X See O(JE Fmm 278. (ff, for your nomination, you have completed an OGE Form 278 

Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosw·e Report, you may .check the box here to 

coinplete this section and then·proceedto the next .section.) 

For the ptecel;ling ten calendar years and the cut•reut calendar year, report any positions 

held, whether compensated oz· not. Positions Include but are not limited to those of an 

officer, director, trustee, general partner, proprietor, representative, employee,. or 

consultant of any corporation, firm, partn~:rship, Ol' othllr,business enterprise or any non· 

profit org!lniZation or educational institution. Exclude positions with religious, social, 

frnternal, or polltical e~tities and tl10se solely of on bonorury nature. 

~ 

,, 

Organization 

(cprporntio.n; finn, ;eoslflim Held Position Name of Addr~s<>( pnrtnership, other business cnfct'Ptisc, Posltimdleld From Held To 01'g9ni~atlon Orgnnlzntion other non-profit (month/yew') (month/yea!') 

orgnuiznlion, 

educa..tio.n!ll 

institul!o~) 

17 
58 

15. Agreements or Arrangements 

X See OGE Form 278. (If, for your nomination, you have completed an OGE Fmn1 278 

Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report, you may check the box here to 

complete this section and then proceed to the next section.) 

As of the date offlllng your OGE Form 278, report your agreements or arrangements for: 

(1) continuing participation In an employee benefit plan (e.g. pension, 4011[, deferred 

compensation); (2) continuation of payment by a former employer (including severance 

pnyments); (3) leaves of O:bsence; nud (4) future employment. 

Provide information ·regarding any agreements or ar1·angcments you have coneeJ•ning (1) 

future. employment; (2) a leave of absence during your pel'iod of Government service; (3) 

continuation of payments by n for01er employer other tbnn the United States Govermueut; 

and (4) continuing portlcipatiou in an employee welfare or benefit plan mnintnincd by a 

former employer other thon United States Government retirement benefits. 

Stntgs and Terms g[Any 

Agteement or ArmnJ~em(!nt Pnr!ies ~ 

(month/year) 

16. Additional Financial Data 

All information requestlld under this bending must be provided for yourself, your spouse, 

and your dependents. (This inform~tion will D()t be published in the record of the bearing 

ou yoU!' nomination, but ifwill be retained in the Committee's files and will be available fol' 

public inspecfion.) 

REDACTED 
REDACTED 

SIGNATVRE AND DATE 

I hereby state that I have read the foregoing Statement on Biographical and Financial Information and that the inf

provided th·~-~~ of my knowledge, current, accurate, and complete. 

7.~~ 

~~ 

This 

f - !_.L,..;- '),1'(}- . day of Q~)o I f 

iD/ z-} lf 

25 
60 

UNITED STATES OFFICE OF 

GOVERNMENT ETHICS 

REDACTED 

---- * ------------·------------·-----

The Honorable Ron Johnson 

ChG~irman 

Committee on Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Mr. Chairman: 

September 15,2017 

In accordance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, 1 enclose a copy of the 

financial disclosure report filed by JeffTien Han Pon, who has been nominated by 

President Trump for the position of Director. Office of Personnel Management. 

We have reviewed the report and have obtained advice from the agency concerning any 

possible conflict in light of its functions and the nominee's proposed duties, Also enclosed is (ln 

ethics agreement outlining the actions that the nominee will undertake to avoid conflicts of 

interest Unless a date for compliance is indicated in the ethics agreement, the nominee must 

fully comply within three months of confirmation with any action specified in the ethics 

agreement. 

Based thereon, we believe that this nominee is in compliance with applicable laws and 

regulations governing conflicts of interest. 

Sincerely, 

David J. A pol 

Acting Director and General Counsel 

Enclosures REDACTED 

.. ---·--------·-----· 1201 NEW YORK AVE NW·SUl"l'E500·WASHINGTON DC•20005 * * * * 
61 

Theodore M. Cooperstein 

General Counsel and 

Designated Agency Ethics Official 

Office of Personnel Management 

1900 E St., NW 

Washington, DC 20415 

Dear Mr. Cooperstein: 

1 September 2017 

The purpose of this letter is to describe the steps that I will take to avoid any actual or 

apparent conflict of interest in the event that I am confitmed for the position of Director. 

As required by 18 U.S.C. § 208(a), I will notpmticipate personally and substantially in 

any particular matter in which I know that I have a financial interest directly and predictably 

affected by the matter, or in which I know that a person whose interests are imputed to me has a 

financial interest directly and predictably affected by the matter, unless I first obtain a written 

waiver, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(1 ), or qualify for a regulatory exemption, pursuant to 

18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(2). I understand that the interests of the following persons are imputed to 

me: any spouse or minor child of mine; any general partner of a partnership in which I am a 

limited or general partner; any organization in which I serve as officer, director, trustee, general 

patiner or employee; and any person or organization with which I am negotiating or have an 

arrangement concerning prospective employment 

Upon confitmation, I will resign from my position with the Society for Human Resources 

Management. For a period of one year after my resignation, I also will not participate personally 

and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I know the Society 

for Human Resources Management is a party or represents a party, unless I am first authorized to 

participate, pursuant to 5 C.P.R. § 2635.502( d). 

Two family members and I own Goodland Central Corp. Upon confirmation, I will 

resign from my position as Vice President of Goodland Central Corp. I will continue to have a 

fmancial interest in this entity, but I will not provide services material to the production of 

income. Instead, I will receive only passive investment income from it. I will not participate 

personally and substantially in any particular matter that to my !mow ledge has a direct and 

predictable effect on the financial interests of Goodland Central Corp., unless I first obtain a 

written waiver, pursuant to IS U.S.C. § 208(b)(l). 

I will divest my intel'ests in Booz Allen Hamilton within 90 days of my confirmation. I 

will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matte!' that to my knowledge 

has a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of this entity until I have divested it, 

tmless I first obtain a written waiver, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(l), or qualify for a 

regulatory exemption, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(2). 
62 

My spouse is an executive at Oath Inc., a subsidiary ofVerizon that holds business 

operations that were formerly AOL and Yahoo!. She participates in profit-sharing and has 

Verizon restricted stock units, Verizon Performance Share Units, AOL Synthetic Stock Units, 

and an investment in the Verizon Stock Fund. I will not patticipate personully and substantially 

in any particular matter that to my knowledge has a direct and predictable effect on the financial 

interests ofVerizon unless Ifirst obtain a written waiver, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(l). 

Ifi have a managed account or otherwise use the services of an investment professional 

during my appointment, I will ensure that the account manager or investment professional 

obtains my prior approval on a case-by-case basis for the l'urchase of any assets other than cash, 

cash equivalents, investment funds that qualify for the exemption at 5 C.F.R. § 2640.201 (a), 

obligations of the United States, or municipal bonds. 

I understand that as an appointee I will be required to sign the Ethics Pledge (Exec. Order 

no. 13770) and that I will be bound by the requirements and restrictions therein in addition to the 

commitments 1 have made in this ethics agreement. 

I will meet in person with you dnring the first week of my service in the position of 

Director in order to complete the initial ethics briefing required under 5 C.F.R. § 2638.305. 

Within 90 days of my confirmation, I will docmnent my compliance with this ethics agreement 

by notifying you in writing when I have completed the steps described in this ethics agreement. 

I have been advised that this ethics agreement will be posted publicly, consistent with 

5 U.S.C. § 552, on the website of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics with ethics agreements 

of other Presidlential nominees who file public financial disclostu·e reports. 
63 

U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

Pre-hearing Questionnaire 

For the Nomination of JeffTien Han I>on to be 

Director, Office of Personnel Management 

I. Nomination Process and Conflicts of Interest 

I. Did the President give yon specific reasons why you were nominated to be the next Director 

ofthe Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and if so, what were they? 

No. 

2. Were any conditions, expressed or implied, attached to your nomination? If so, please 

explain. 

No. 

3. Have you made any commitments with respect to the policies and principles you will attempt 

to implement as Director? If so, what are they, and to whom were the commitments made? 

No. 

4. Are you aware of any business relationship, dealing, or financial transaction that could result 

in a possible conflict of interest for you or the appearance of a conflict of interest? If so, 

please explain what procedures you will use to recuse yourself or otherwise address the 

conflict. And if you will recuse yourself, explain how you will ensure your responsibilities 

are not affected by your recusal. 

No. 

II. Bacl•ground of the Nominee 

5. What specific background, experience, and attributes qualify you to be Director? 

As a professional HR practitioner for over 20+ years both in public and private sectors, 

I have an in depth understanding of the role an HR office plays in any organization. In 

my roles I have developed an understanding about the Federal leadership and 

management challenges. In previous roles at OPM and as the head ofHR for the 

I>cpartment of Energy I helped lead and stand up contracts, contracting vehicles, 

service providers for shared services and policy changes, which will help me serve as 

Director if I am confirmed. Additionally, I have previous experience and relationships 

with Federalleadcrs in HR, Acquisition, Finance, IT, Unions, IGs, GAO, GSA and 

OMB which can be leveraged in carrying out the OPM mission. I have focused on 

mission driven efforts such as helping to hire transition militm·y to civilian life and jobs 

and first-hand lruowlcdge of how things worli and don'twork. This understanding of 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 1 
64 

how to develop and implement successful large scale change will he important in my 

role, ifl am confirmed as Director. 

6. Please describe: 

a. Your leadership and management style. 

My management style is highly collaborative. My imperatives for organization 

and teams: 1) always tell the truth; 2) work together as a team; 3) make the 

tough choices; 4) treat everyone with dignity and respect (and demand it back); 

5) enhance the reputation and accomplishments ofthose around you (success is 

defined through the success and accomplishments of others); 6) value differences 

and 7) create an environment that energizes you and the team around you. 

b. Your experience managing personnel. 

I have managed both Federal and private sector teams for the most part having 

goals that were ambitious, time limited, and successful. I have built teams, 

revamped teams, and developed teams. Managing people and developing them is 

a key strength of mine. I understand the management of people includes: 

sourcing, recruiting, selecting, on-boarding, developing, managing performance, 

evaluating and sustaining total rewards, managing employee and labor relations, 

and separation management. I have deep knowledge of managing personnel 

from my experiences in helping to lead the HR Line of Business, my time as the 

Chief Human Capital Officer at Department of Energy, and consulting for many 

organizations in change management and HR as a team leader in consulting 

engagements for many .Federal agencies and departments. Overwhelmingly, 

people on my teams have performed at high levels, and have enjoyed working on 

my teams. There are a few exceptions, where demands from dissatisfied 

employees were unreasonable, and I always ensured an amicable separation. 

Managing ont is at times not done very well. I always practice how you manage 

people out speaks to your brand and whether they would want to work for you 

and your organization again. Where it lool•s as if removal may be necessary, 

either through a performance based action or an adverse action, I have honored 

the rules and proffet·cd chat·gcs or made decisions (depending upon my role in 

the process) fairly and in consideration of the full record. I believe in treating 

people with respect throughout the pt·ocess. Leading and managing personnel 

l'Cqnires experience, patience, and judgement. I have been fortunate to have 

gt·eat managers, and experiences have lent opportunities for me to develop as a 

leader and manager. 

c. What is the largest number of people that have worked under you? 

The largest teams that worked under me ranged from 5 to 200. Those teams 

have impacted hundt·eds of thousands to millions of people. 

7. In your past federal employment, how have you managed underperforming employees? 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 2 
65 

I have been fortunate to have had great teams in OPM eGOV, and IIR at Department 

of Enel·gy. There were no underperformcrs in our group of Project Managers for the 

six government-wide initiatives. My direct reports at the Department of Energy were 

some of the most experienced and seasoned leadel·s and managers in the Federal 

Government. Together we complemented each other's experiences and worked great as 

high performing teams. I have had uuderperformers in the private sector and I always 

ensured that there arc clear roles, understandable goals, and resources and reasonable 

timeframes to complete the work When work is not performed at an acceptable level, I 

give feedback as close as possible to the underpcrformancc. If the performance docs 

not change, then I have had a development meeting and an exchange so there is au 

opportunity to discuss what is expected and what is not currently being met. If it 

continues and affects productivity, teamworll, or accomplishment of goals, very rarely 

have I needed to write a formal performance improvement plan. When I have, most of 

the time, the team member has progressed to perform at an acceptable level. In HR, 

our function is to assist managers to manage performance and manage performance 

improvement, and at last resort separation. 

8. Please describe any experience you have related to cybersecurity or information security 

management. 

The eGov initiatives all had to have certifications and accreditations, now called 

authorizations to operate. While at OPM, I was a government-wide projec.t manager, 

certified by OMB thru the CIO of OPM (ensuring required course work as well as 

experience). I had to manage and provide oversight for our teams that managed 

Entet·prise Human Resource Integration (eOPF), USAJobs, cPayroll, eTruining and 

eClearance (eQIP, CVS). On our teams I implemented FISMA requirements and 

related NIST aud OMB guidance, including NIST Special Publication 800-53, at that 

time and had CISSP and CISMs (cybersecurity professionals) in the teams and on the 

audit teams, working with PA&E function, CIO, GAO, JG, and Hill staff. 

9. Please describe any experience you have related to acquisitions, contract management, and 

the development of requirements. 

For Federal experience, we at eTraining managed shared services for learning systems 

and content with such providers as GoLcarn, NTIS, FedSource/FastTracll, DAU, and 

the Foreign Service Institute. At OPM, Go Learn was managed by my team and we let 

our JDIQs (with the attendant work on components of this process such as 

Requirements, RFJ, RFP, Award, contract administration, user groups, dispute 

resolution, and feature development). All the initiatives had contracts and contractors 

working with our Federal project teams and their customcrs/stalteholders. W c 

partnered with the contracting office and GC to help us operate and make available 

vital services for our Federal workforce. For the IIRI"OB our cGov team ran an A 76 

competition for Payroll and other transactional functions. I have been on both sides 

(the Federal side of contracting, and on the contractor (Booz Allen) side) and I have a 

good understanding of contmcts, contracting vehicles, POPs, modifications, FFP, and 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 3 
66 

T &M contracts. I have experience with selection committees, developing 

requirements, awards, and bid protests. 

III. Role of the Director of OPM 

10. What do you consider to be the mission ofOPM, and what would you consider to be your 

role and responsibilities, if confi1med as the Director? 

The expiring strategic plan indicates that OPM's mission is to recruit, retain and honor 

a wodd-class world'orcc for the American people. I understand a new strategic plan is 

in the works, and I look forward to weighing in on it before it is adopted, if I have the 

opportunity. If confirmed as Director, my role will be to carry out the OPM mission for 

the administration as the Chief Human Capital Officer for agencies, Federal employees, 

and, ultimately, the general public, as a beneficiary of these efforts. This would mean 

consulting with each Federal agency on their needs and implementing the intent of 

Congress when relevant legislation is signed into law in accordance within the existing 

legal and regulatory framework. 

11. Are there any activities nmently in OPM's mission that you think would be appropriately 

located elsewhere in the federal government? Please explain. 

No. 

12. What do you anticipate will be your greatest challenges as OPM Director, and what will be 

your top priorities? What do you hope to accomplish during your tenure? 

I believe my potential greatest challenge also provides an opp01·tunity for great 

accomplishment, ifl am confirmed as Director, in the area ofiT modernization. 

Outside of work, Federal employees are able to access nearly any piece of information 

they need, f1·om their bank accounts to student loans to car insurance, all on their 

phone, We need to work toward providing the employees of the Federal government 

with the same conveniences with regards to their employment within the Federal 

Government, with appropriate attention to information security, of course, and I would 

look forward to helping move our services to employees and retirees in that direction. 

IV. Policy Questions 

Management 

13. What do you believe are the greatest personnel management challenges in the federal 

govemment, and as OPM director, what would you do to address them 7 

I believe there are two major challenges we face. First, not changing with the times. As 

the world has become more mobile, digital, and focused on team oriented performance, 

we have not adjusted people management to accommodate these critical changes in how 

the members of our Fedc1·al workforce work, live and play. Second is managing the 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page4 
67 

personnel system as it stands. We have not taken a thorough looli for 39 years at the 

design of our Federal personnel system. There have been many clumges to the 

workplace: teams, technology, the way people learn and wot·k to perform taslG and 

activities. We must strive to achieve the right talent to meet the expectations and work 

performance levels that deliver the right services to om· citizens. One example of how 

we can begin to solve both these challenges is through a mobile first strategy. 

14. What role do you believe the Director should play in addressing the High Risk management 

weaknesses that have been identified by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in its 

annual High-Risk report? 

I believe the GAO high dsk report is a useful tool to assist agencies with identifying 

programs that create a challenge to the Federal Government. I believe the Director of 

OPM plays a key role in assisting the Federal Government in addressing those areas 

that at·e in need of reform. 

a. What do you believe is the biggest impediment to addressing strategic human capital 

and ensuring it is removed from the GAO high-risk list? 

The GAO noted in its report that OPM, the CIICO Council, and individual agencies, 

have stt·cngthened their leadership in this area. However, the GAO indicated that more 

worli needs to be done. I believe the biggest challenge is to obtain a consensus from 

agencies, with vm·ied missions. 

b. What, if anything, would yon do diflerently to address GAO's recommendations in 

the 2017 high-risk report? 

If confirmed as Director, I will request a full briefing on the GAO's recommendations 

and the current status of actions being taken to address the recommendations. With a 

full understanding of the current plan I would set forth a strategy, with new ideas and 

directions as needed, to further progress in addressing the GAO's recommendations. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 5 
68 

15. The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) is conducted on an aruma] basis and has 

become a regular tool for agencies and employees in identifying and addressing workplace 

issues. What is your opinion of the FEVS, and what, if any, changes do you think are needed 

to improve its effectiveness? 

I believe the FEVS is an important tool for agency leadership to gain an understanding 

and better identify the challenges and strengths of the workplace. To maximize 

employee performance, agency leaders needs to provide supervisors improved tools and 

conditions for success. 

16. What is your opinion of the cmTent state oflabor relations in the federal govenunent and how 

would you approach labor relations issues, both government-wide and within OPM, as 

Director? 

I believe in cultivating a collaborative relationship with employee representatives and 

look forward to working with them, and others, in hearing their ideas, and welcome 

their input in advancing civil service reform. 

17. OPM has management responsibility for several employee benefits programs, such as the 

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Are there any particular areas of concern or 

changes you would advocate for, if confirmed as Director? 

FEHB is the largest employer-sponsored group health insurance program in the world, 

covering over 8 million lives. To maintain high-quality, comprehensive benefits at an 

affordable cost, OPM will need to continue its efforts in building OPM's capacity to 

measure health plan performance, and focusing on affordability, benefit design and 

quality. 

18. The Inspector General has identified serious deficiencies in OPM's contract oversight, and in 

the 2016 Management Challenges report identified that work was still needed to improve 

internal controls through corrective actions plans. If confirmed, what would you do to ensure 

that forward progress is made in this area? 

I am aware of the Inspector Gene1·al's recommendations to OPM and will take them 

very seriously if I am confirmed. Effective contract oversight and internal controls are 

important to agency efficiency of operations. I understand OPM is making significant 

efforts to correct these issues, including training and development of staff, initiating 

contract file reviews, and initiating contract close out efforts. I support these efforts 

and, if confirmed as Director, will work with the Office of Procurement Opemtions to 

achieve their success. 

19. As of August 2017, OPM had not met its strategic plan goal of adjudicating 90 percent of 

retirement cases within 60 days. If confirmed, how would you address claim processing 

delays? 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 6 
69 

OPM Retirement Services (RS) should continue to review its processes and evaluate 

whether it is working as fast as possible to service its customers while maintaining 

accuracy and quality. As of August 2017, RS processed 70% of new retirement claims 

in 60 days or less. This is the highest monthly percentage since March 2017. RS is 

preparing for the busy season to provide the best service possible for the tens of 

thousands of custome1·s that send OPM their I'etirement applications in January and 

February. I understand OPM also continues to provide agency t1·aining so cases, as 

received from employing agencies, are more likely to be complete and ready to be 

processed when they arrive at RS.If I am confirmed as Director, I will continue making 

efforts to provide timely and quality service to retirees a priority. 

Strategic Human Capital Planning 

20. What do you believe is the role of OPM for government-wide strategic human capital 

management and policymaking? · 

I believe OPM's role for government-wide strategic human capital management and 

policymaking is to lead and assist agencies in adopting more strategic, data-driven 

approaches to enable them to meet their agencies' missions. Our work with agencies 

should include engaging and pa1·tnering with stakeholders to identify, develop, and 

share best practices across the government to assist with the development of analytical 

sldlls and technological infrastructure to help make fact-based decisions, Additionally, 

OPM should be engaged in aiding the President in recommending policy proposals, 

including legislative agenda items and executive actions, to further these goals. 

21. What role do you believe OPM plays in helping agencies identify and address critical skills 

gaps, and if confirmed, how would you approach lhis issue? 

OPM is the Human Resources agency fo1· the Federal Government. As such, if 

confirmed, I will lead and support OPM engagement with agencies across the 

Government and othe•· stal,eholders to identify best pi·actices to address critical skills 

gaps. Also, designing systems to assess the management of human capital (which 

would include how skill gaps are addressed) is a specific area where Congress has 

directed OPM to take the lead. 

22. What do you believe is the appropriate role for service contracts in helping agencies meet 

their missions and what criteria do you believe federal agencies should use in evaluating the 

appropriate mix of contractors and federal employees? 

I believe service contracts can help agencies meet their missions, when used 

appropriately. In some cases, contractors can provide services at a reduced cost or in a 

faster timeframe, especially if there is a short-term need or a specialized skill set 

required. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 7 
70 

23. Do you believe the Senior Executive Service (SES) as currently structured is sufficient to 

meet the management needs of the federal government? If confirmed, arc there any changes 

or specific refmms you would propose? 

Agencies must be creative in their outreach when seeking executive talent. Agencies 

must make sure they are developing talent presently within their ranl>s as well as 

reaching out across various forums to find talent. This requires engagement and 

support by senior leadership at each agency. Agencies must see their senior cadre as an 

ongoing investment and recognize opportunities for senior executives to keep their skills 

up-to-date and continuing to grow. This can be accomplished through executive 

mentoring, training, and rotational opportunities. Finally, accountability must always 

be a focus fot· agencies. Performance standards for senior executives must be clearly 

aligned with each agency's mission and, ideally, should Jlrovide a basis for making 

meaningful distinctions in pay and awards based upon relative performance. 

a. If confinned, how would you improve the oversight of SES bonuses and standardize 

the metrics used in determining which employees deserve such bonuses? 

An agency must determine the content of SES performance plans, appraise and 

rate executives annually, and usc the results as a basis for pay, awards, 

development, retention, t·emoval and other personnel decisions. OPM must 

continue to assert the important oversight role OPM has been given by Congress 

to promote responsible and reasonable compensation. 

24. A 2016 GAO report found that, in fiscal year 2013, roughly 99 percent offederal employees 

received performance appraisal ratings at or above "fully successful", with about 61 percent 

of employees receiving ratings of "outstanding" or "exceeds fully successful." 

a. Do you believe that OPM has provided sufficient guidance on performance 

evaluation to agencies? 

OPM has put out extensive guidance on performance management, including 

performance evaluations and addressing poor performance. Sometimes there 

arc challenges in effectively implementing policies and guidance from OPM. I 

look forward to worldng with agencies and the Chief Human Capital Officers 

Council in order to assess their performance management needs and how OPM 

can assist them, should I be confirmed. Managet·s have a responsibility to 

effectively communicate the standards each employee is expected to meet and to 

base evaluations on actual job performance for the designated period. I believe 

a supervisor should consistently communicate to lite employee whether they arc 

meeting these standards. A conversation about success or shortcomings in 

performance that happens only in an annual evaluation happens too 

infrequently. The communication and dialog should be an ongoing, continual 

process. OPM has the necessary expertise, tools, and guidance to help agencies 

in tllese areas, and I look forward to supporting the efforts to increase our 

effectiveness in performance management. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 8 
71 

b. As Ol'M Director, how would you assist agency managers in conducting purposeful 

performance evaluations of their employees? 

Accountability measures should foster an environment where supervisors 

promptly pursue adverse or performance-based actions, when warranted and do 

so in a manner consistent with procedural rights conferred by Congress. If 

performance evaluations do not accurately address shm·tcomings, it does a 

disservice to the employee by inhibiting their professional growth, prevents 

managers from increasing the effectiveness of their employees, and creates a 

burden on the American taxpayer by concealing pom· performance. If 

confirmed, I will leverage both my pdvate and 'Federal experiences to employ 

effective performance management policies. 

25. In the 2017 duplication repmt, GAO found that there were 105 different authorities that 

could be used by an agency to hire a person into the federal civil service, yet only 20 were 

commonly used. 

a. What experience do you have with the use of federal hiring authorities? 

While serving at the Department of Energy, my IIR team used Federal hiring 

authorities where we managed approximately 13,000 government employees. 

DOE had employees in multiple categories, including ES, SES, GS, EK, EJ, ST, 

SL, and ALJ. 

b. If confirmed, what specific improvements or innovations to the federal hiring process 

would you propose? 

If confirmed, I will work closely with experts in OPM and agencies to identify 

current needs and ways to improve the Federal hiring process consistent with 

merit systems principles and applicable law, to meet their needs in an efficient, 

and pmactivc manner that is also fair to applicants. 

c. As Ol'M Director, how would you encourage agencies with staffing shortages to 

better use flexible hiring authorities? 

If agencies have a genuine staffing shortage, agencies can consider asking for or 

using additional authorities, some of which can be used without OPM approval. 

These include the usc of certain salary offset waivers (for a limited period of 

time), recruitment, retention, and relocation incentives, student loan repayment 

assistance, workplace flexibilities like telework, alternative work schednles, and 

leave tlexibilitics available to assist working families. I look forward to working 

with agencies to assist with meeting their staffing needs if I am confirmed. 

26. Last year, Congress passed legislation that would refcnm the federal government's abuse of 

administrative leave (Pub. L. No. 114-328, Sec. I !38). 

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a. What are your thoughts on this legislation to curb the abuse of administrative leave? 

If confirmed, I look fonvard to studying this issue and the impacts of recent 

legislation. If there have been abuses, it is important to address them. I 

understand that OPM is developing regulations to ensure that agencies are in 

compliance with the new requirements under the law. 

b. What role does OPM play in ensuring each agency is complying with the 

recordkeeping requirements oflhe legislation? 

OPM is cuncntly developing regulations to implement the new categories of 

leave created by the statute. 

27. A 2015 GAO report entitled Improved Supervision and Better Use of Probationary Periods 

are Needed to Address Substandard Employee Performance found that agencies are not 

properly utilizing the pro bationmy period to make performance-related decisions about the 

employee. 

a. Do you believe the probationary period for new employees and new 

management/supervisors should be extended? Please explain. 

Some agencies have longer probationary periods regardless of the position. For 

example, a two-year probationary period applies to new Department of Defense 

employees who arc appointed to permanent positions in the competitive service. I 

unde1·stand that, pursuant to opemtive law, OPM, through presidential delegation, 

may issue rules concerning the length of probation. If confirmed, I look forward to 

considering this question further. However, it should be noted that 5 U.S. C. 

7511(a)(l)(A) provides that full civil service protections apply to Federal employees 

(outside the Department of Defense) after one year of service, irrespective ofthe 

length of the probationary period set by OPM. OPM regulations extending the 

probational')' period would thus have little practical effect on agency operations. 

b. Do you believe OPM could do more to ensure all agencies use computerized notice to 

remind them when an employee's probationary period is ending? 

Yes. 

c. Do you think managers should be required to dete1mine whether an employee has 

demonstrated successful perfmmanee and conduct prior to the end of the probationary 

period? 

Yes, and I believe existing OPM regulation already requires agencies to 

determine fitness for the position throughout the period and to terminate 

employment if the agency detenniues that qualifications have not been fully 

demonstrated. I agree with that requirement. 

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d. Do you have ideas for how the federal govemment could more effectively use the 

probationary period in federal employment? 

Agencies can do a better job of training managers of how to usc the 

probationary period to review employee perfonnancc. 

Personnel Systems 

28. Do you believe there needs to be additional Department-specific or government-wide 

personnel system refmms? If so, what refonns do you believe are necessary and why? 

We need to re-examine our practices to mal'e sure we arc doing all that we can to 

attract, develop, and retain a workforce that is ready for the challenges this government 

currently faces. Hiring authorities, training, performance management systems, and 

total rewards should all be looked at government-wide. Department-specific reforms 

may make sense for certain situations, however we are still one single government and 

managing the govemment liS effectively and efficiently as possible requires 

standardization, simplification, and unification. Separating out infrastructure and 

policy should be managed effectively by providers and a managing agency in 

conjunction with OPM, OMB and GSA. 

29. What is your opinion about pay-for-performance systems in the federal govenunent? 

It is critical that any pay-for-performance system be supported by a performance 

measurement system that is trusted by managers and employees, recognizes top 

performers, and promotes accountability. The budget implications of any new system 

will have to be carefully examined and any system of compensation must be 

transparent and provide good value to the American taxpayer. 

Security Clearance Investigations 

30. The National Bmeau of Background Investigations (NBIB) began operations less than a year 

ago as the central entity for conducting background investigations for the Federal 

govermnent. What do you see as your role in ensuring that NBIB does not suffer the same 

security lapses as experienced over several years by OPM's Federal Investigative Services? 

I understand that OPM, working with the Department of Homeland Security and other 

agency partners, has already taken a number of actions to enhance its cyber security 

posture agency-wide. I also understand that, pursuant to an Exec.utive Order issued in 

2016, and a bilateral agreement between OPM and DoD, DoD is building a new 

National Bacl,ground Investigative System (NBIS), on beltalf of OPM, that will 

eventually replace OPM's legacy system, support more efficient operations, and further 

enhance system security, My role, if confirmed as the Director, would be to promote all 

of these activities and work toward the expeditious completion of the design and 

implementation of NBIS. 

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31. Security clearance investigations are cmTently done on a fee-for-service basis. Do you 

believe that appropriations are necessary to address the existing backlog? 

The value in fee-for-service is that it allows agencies to pm·chase security clearance 

investigations based on their needs. This forces agencies to be prudent about the 

number of positions designated as requiring a security clearance, while also preserving 

the greatest value for the American taxpayer by encouraging a more transparent 

accounting of how money is being spent on security clearance investigations. NBIB 

publishes its prices in advance of every Fiscal Year, so agencies are aware of the costs of 

security clearance investigations and at·e able to plan their workforce costs. 

My understanding is that NBIB has not asked for additional appropriations to reduce 

the existing bacldog. Presently, I believe NBIB is best situated to advise on that point. 

Should I be confirmed, I look fonvard to discussing resource needs with NBIB. 

32. On August 22, 2017, the DoD issued an implementation plan for the potential transfer of 

security clearance background investigations back to DoD. What is your view of this plan? 

With Section 951, Congress directed the Department of Defense (DoD) to draft an 

implementation plan for the potential shift of security clearance investigations for DoD 

entities back to DoD. I concur with the letter from OPM's Acting Director Kathleen M. 

McGettigan that was transmitted to Congress on September 6, 2017. This letter raises :1 

number of important matters that should be considered before any transition plan is 

implemented. 

33. OPM is cunenlly working with DoD to develop a new system to serve as an end-to-end 

system fo! security clearance investigations. What do you see as the key considerations for 

OPM as this system is developed? 

Key considerations going forward will be (1) protecting the security of OPM's legacy 

systems in any ldnd of data transfer; (2) containing costs in order to deliver the best 

value to the American taxpayer; and (3) fostering fair, open com11etition and 

tt·anspat·ency in the competition of any contracts entered into as a result of the 

development of the new system. 

Information Technology & Cybersecurity 

34. According to the FY16 Federal Infom1ation Security Modernization Act (FISMA) Report to 

Congress, only 13 of the 23 civilian CFO Act agencies have met government-wide 

performance goals. Overall, the Median Govenuncnt-wide Maturity Model Rating is Level 2 

(Level 5 is the highest). lf confi1med, how would you assist agency Chieflnformation 

Officers in meeting their perfonnance goals and raising their Matmity Model Rating? 

I agree that the rating level should be higher. If confirmed, I will work with the OCIO 

to determine ways to assist in meeting their performance goals. I will work with the 

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OPM CIO, OPM CISO and the Federal CIO Council to explore ways to help agencies 

meet their performance goals within the FISMA guidelines. 

3 5. There has been a high turnover rate of critical cybersecurity-related positions at OPM and 

significant regression in OPM's compliance with FISMA requirements. 

a. If confirmed, what would you do to attract and retain cybersecurity talent to OPM? 

If confirmed, I am committed to working with Ol'M's OCIO, agency hiring 

managers and human resources staff to help them identify skills gaps, if they 

exist, and find aud recruit the best ]Jrofessionals to fill these positions. 

b. If coniinned, how would you work to assist other federal agencies attract and retain 

cybersecurit y talent? 

If confirmed, I am committed to worldng with agency hiring managers and 

human resources staff to help them identify skills gaps and find and recruit the 

best professionals to fill these positions, consistent with applicable law and merit 

system principles. 

c. What would be your strategy to ilrst establish a culture of compliance and then 

transition to a culture of integrated security? 

To complete the transition to a culture of integrated security additional efforts to 

increase employee awareness of threats and vulnerabilities will need to be 

expanded. Also, cybersecurity efforts need to continue to evolve from meeting a 

requirement at a point in time for compliance, to fully achieving real-time 

dynamic and continuous monitoring with continual, agile innovation in the 

technology supporting cybcrsccurity. 

36. The OPM Office of Inspector General (OIG) has repeatedly warned about challenges that 

OPM faces regarding infonnation security, including its most recent audit ofOPM's 

compliance with the FISMA. The serious data breaches that affected OPM demonstrated the 

consequences of poor infotmation security management-including the theft of personal 

information of millions of people. As Director, how would you improve the agency's 

cybersecmity and information security? 

The security of OPM's systems is of the utmost importance, especially given the 

sensitivity of the data contained on those systems. OPM has made significant strides in 

safeguarding its systems and data. These steps include, centralizing the operations and 

budgeting for OPM enterprise Cybersecurity capability under the CISO, creating and 

implementing new and enhanced security policies, processes and procedures, tailing 

proactive measures to educate OPM users about ways to reduce cybersecurity risk, and 

deploying modern security tools to protect the OPM environment. If confirmed as 

Directm·, I will work with the OCIO so that OPM continues to work to secure its 

systems. 

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37. What do you believe are the drivers of the cunent and historical challenges in the 

information technology (IT) programs at OPM and what would be your approach to 

improving its IT systems? 

Upgralting OPM's IT infrastructure is a central component of OPM's risk mitigation 

strategy, to mitigate both cybcrsecurity risks and the operational risk posed by 

outdated and underperforming equipment 

38. Many ofOPM's systems are still heavily paper-based and lead to backlogs and delays in 

processing. How would you address tllis issue? 

Improving the reporting of Federal employee work records generated by employing 

organizations will improve the speed and accuracy of retirement calculations and better 

support background investigations. Collaboration between OPM business functions 

and the OCIO is ongoing in order to develop new and innovative solutions needed to 

better serve the American citizens. 

Accountability and oversight 

39. At any point during your career, has your conduct as a federal employee or federal contractor 

ever been the subject of an OIG, Govemmcnt Accountability Office (GAO), or federal law 

enforcement investigation? Please explain. 

No. 

40. At any point during your career as a federal contractor, has your conduct ever led to you or 

your employer being subject to suspension or debarment proceedings by the federal 

government? Please explain. 

No. 

41. What role do you think the OPM Director should play in identifying, preventing and 

recovering improper payments in OPM's programs? 

Notwithstanding OPM's low imprope~· payment rates, I believe that more can always be 

done in this area and if I am confirmed I will work closely with the program offices as 

well as the Chief Financial Officer to continue to develop mechanisms that will enhance 

OPM's ability to prevent improper payments. 

42. In its latest Management Challenges report, the OPM Inspector General has identified 

OPM's failure to use data mining to identify improper payments. Do you have experience 

with the usc of data analytics? How can this tool be effectively used to curb improper 

payments? 

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I am aware of the importance of data analytics and its potential application to OPM 

prograrits generally. I understand that some data mining already occurs in some areas, 

such as the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. If confirmed, I intend to 

assess OPM analytical capabilities and options for their use in areas such as this. 

43. What is your view of the role of the OPM OIG? If confirmed, what steps would you take as 

Director to establish a working relationship with the OPM Inspector General? 

I am aware of the important role of the OPM Office of Inspector General and was most 

impressed by a general briefing provided to me by that office regarding its roles and 

responsibilities, Combatting framl, waste and abuse will be core objectives for OPM 

should I be confirmed. I look forward to working closely with that office to enhance 

OPM's efficiency in its operations and its accountability for achieving good results. My 

first order of business will be to review OIG findings and, as approJ>riatc, assess the 

agency's progress in addressing identified challenges and priorities. 

44. If confirmed, do you commit to ensuring that all recommendations made by the OPM OIG 

are reviewed, responded to, if necessary, and, unless the agency justifies its disagreements 

with the recommendations, implemented to the fullest extent possible within a reasonable 

time period? 

Yes. 

45. Protecting whislleblower confidentiality is of the utmost importance to this Committee. 

a. How do you plan to implement policies within the agency to encourage employees to 

bring constructive suggestions forward without the fear of reprisal? 

If confirmed, I will review OPM training and communications practices and 

look for· opportunities to implement them in a way that clearly communicates to 

employees how to constructively voice concerns and identify resolutions through 

appropriate channels or a specific internal mechanism, such as a human 

resource professional. 

b. If confumed, what avenues will be available to employees to report waste, fraud, or 

abuse within OPM? 

If confirmed, my intent is to sustain and develop further employee 

understanding of the importance to combat fraud, waste and abuse, and the 

available avenues for reporting such concerns, including within the agency and 

to the Inspector General and the Congress. In line with this intent, I will support 

OPM's continued compliance with statutory provisions requiring training about 

prohibited personnel practices and the rights available to employees. 

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c. Do you commit without reservation to work to ensure that any whistleblower within 

OPM does not face retaliation? 

Yes, if confirmed, I will emphasize to all managers and supervisors the 

importance of preventing retaliation against individuals who make protected 

communications and reiterate that such retaliation, if proven, will constitute a 

prohibited personnel practice, as prescribed within Federal Law. 

d. Do you cotmnit without reservation to take all appropriate action if notified about 

potential whistle blower retaliation? 

Yes, if confirmed, one of my statutory duties would be to help uphold all civil 

service laws, including whistlcblower protections, on a government-wide basis. 

As the agency bead, I intend to promote the same climate internally so that 

managers adhere to the statutory process governing disciplinary actions against 

employees who engage in misconduct in violation of civil service laws, such as 

retaliation. 

46. Please describe specific examples regarding how you have worked to implement OIG and/or 

GAO recommendations during yom tenure in government. 

I. ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT: 

A. Potential Exists for Enlmncing Collaboration on Four Initiatives 

i. GA0-04-6: Published: Oct 10, 2003. Publicly Released: Nov 10, 2003. 

cPayroll was identified as one of fow· initiatives that could benefit by addressing the policy 

effects of implementing ePayroll. eGov in pmtnership with OPM Policy developed the 

Requirements group that addressed potential impact of policy and systems implementation. 

At the Department of Energy, the lG ofiice identified the management of Human Capital as a 

risk. This helped the HR shop focus efTorls in improving the management of people with 

each component through enhanced strategic human capital planning, budgeting, and 

evaluation of human capital programs. At times the Deprutment of Energy IG office 

celebrated om accomplishments when our mission efforts led to positive outcomes while still 

guarding against waste, fraud, and abuse. 

V. Relations with Congress 

47. Do you agree without reservation to comply with any request or summons to appear and 

testify before any duly constituted committee of Congress if you are confirmed? 

Yes, I do. 

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48. Do you agree without reservation to make any subordinate official or employee available to 

appear and testifY before, or provide infonnation to, any duly constituted committee of 

Congress if you are confinned? 

Yes, I do. 

49. Do you agree without reservation to comply fully, completely, and promptly to any request 

for documents, communications, or any other agency material or inf(nmation from any duly 

constituted committee of the Congress if you are confirmed? 

Yes, I do. 

VI. Assistance 

50. Are these answers your own? Have you consulted with OPM, or any other interested parties? 

If so, please indicate which entities. 

While I consulted with OPM staff on background material to use in responding to these 

questions, the final answers are my own. 

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Chairman Ron Johnson 

Supplemental Pre-hearing Questionnaire 

For the Nomination of .Jeff Tien Han Ponto be 

Director, Office of Personnel Management 

I. In a letter dated August 16,2017, I requested information and materials from OPM regarding 

its 2013 regulation that enabled Members of Congress and their staff to purchase health 

insurance offered by a District of Columbia Small Business Health Options Plan (SHOP) 

exchange and receive an employer contribution. OPM responded to this letter in a letter 

dated September 1, 2017, but provided an incomplete document production to the 

Connnittee. I understand OPM continues to identify responsive material. If confirmed, will 

you commit without reservation to producing expeditiously all of the information and 

materials that I requested on August !6, 2017, as well as any other material concerning the 

2013 regulation? 

Yes M1·. Chairman, if confirmed, I look forward to working with you regarding the 

2013 OPM regulation regarding Members of Congress and Congressional staff 

healthcare, which I understand is a top priority of yours. If confirmed, I would welcome 

meeting with you to gain a full understanding of your concerns on this issue, and the 

actions and responses that have been taken to date. If confirmed, I will give serious 

attention to this issue and will work closely with you to provide responses to your 

inquil'es, as I plan to do with all inquiries from the Committee. 

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Minority 

Supplemental Pre-headng Questionnaire 

For the Nomination of JeffTien Han Ponto be 

Director, Office of Personnel Management 

I. Nomination P1·ocess and Conflicts oflnterest 

1. Has the President or his staff asked you to sign a confidentiality or non-disclosure 

agreement? 

No 

2. Has the President of his staff asked you to pledge loyalty to the President or the 

Administration? 

No 

3. Have you asked any federal employee or potential hire to pledge loyalty to the President, 

Administration or any other government official? 

No 

II. Background of Nominee 

4. Do you seck out dissenting views and how do you encourage constructive critical 

dialogue with subordinates? 

Always. I believe in asking the wise and the people. "A fool despises good counsel, 

but a wise man takes it to heart." I intend to do that. I learn and my team learns 

from diffe1·ent perspectives. 

5. Please give examples of times in your career when you disagreed with your superiors and 

aggressively advocated your position. Were you ever successful? 

After a couple of months, I observed the treatment and conduct of my co-worker as 

unacceptable in the treatment of people in our organization. I recommended 

removal but my boss disagreed since this co-worker was on an important special 

project. This was an example of a co-worl~:er that performed high but left a wake of 

people issues to address. After some time, my boss finally had no choice but to 

separate this individual out. Although it took much longer, my boss realized 

keeping my co-worlwr on board created risk. I remained objective throughout this 

process by including other investigators (fresh set of eyes) to evaluate claims 

brought by several employees against this co-wodcer. I was not afraid to continue to 

press my boss on fighting for acceptable treatment by a co-worker to other staff. As 

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an executive and also as a human resources pr·ofcssional, it is your duty to ensure 

the ethical and moral treatment of yourself and others. 

A technology company that I worked for had a tall organization, 13 layers. (CEO, 

COO, EVP, SVP, VPI, VP2, Exec Director, Senior Director, Director, Senior 

Manager, Manager, Lead, Line.) The management wanted to retain this tall 

structure. I felt it impeded speed, communication, and lateralizatiou (collaboration 

across business units). Management had me conduct a benchmarking study with 

competition and other·s in the market space. Similar observations, 

recommendations and conclusions were drawn. This evidence-based approach 

enabled management to move quickly to a decision to delayer the organization while 

rearranging cost accounting and budget units in order to create P&Ls verses dozens 

of GLs, thus streamlining. 

6. Please list and describe examples of when you made politically difficult choices that you 

thought were in the best interest of the country. 

One example is eTraining content providers. Implementing a plan I supported, we 

went from $150 per course per three month period for one person, to $37 for 3500 

courses for a year for one person, leveraging the size of the Federal Government to 

get volume pricing. This enabled us to save money, increase content and service, 

and reduce costs for the tax payers. Additionally, we changed ePayroll - going from 

27 to 4 payroll systems. Many government stakeholders at fir·st were very reluctant 

to "give up" their payroll functions and be serviced by NFC, NBC, GSA, and DFAS. 

Although at times unpopular to the people affected by this migr·ation, it freed up 

resources aml had considerable cost avoidance to the tax payer-. 

7. What would you consider your greatest successes as a leader? 

The evidence of other leaders that I have enabled to be great servant principledbased leaders that serve others. 

8. What would you consider your greatest career success overall? 

Helping others to create environments that breed significant accomplishments and 

positive movement towards mission goals. Also shaping the future ofHR, getting 

leaders together to work towards better outcomes for· organizations through 

evolving practices of HR. 

9. How has your previous work for the federal govenm1ent, Booz Allen Hamilton, and the 

Society for Human Resource Management prepared you to serve as Director of OPM? 

I have learned what it is to be a Federal manager of people and programs. I have 

learned how to manage large scale Federal change. I have leamed how to have 

contractor teams taclde challenges with Fedcml teams and get results. I have 

learned from my colleagues across the profession of HR, what works, what doesn't, 

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what should we tt-y, and what are we ready to do in our lifetime. I have learned to 

include many to be active participants ,in efforts, in particulat·, customers/end 

users/citizens, IGs, Unions, Congress, WHO, rural, urban, large and small. 

I have a deeper appreciation of what an honor and humbling privilege it is to have 

a chance once again to serve this nation in the capacity of the Director of OPM. I 

appreciate the responsibility and expectations for !he next Director of OPM. 

III. Policy Questions 

l 0. OPM has had serious challenges in administering its major contracts, to include its 

infrasttucture modemization plan where the contractor walked away in the middle of 

performance and the FSAFEDS contract, where OPM extended the contract for 13 years 

without recompeting. What would you do to address these contract management 

perfonnancc issues? 

OPO is actively working with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) to 

consider necessary improvements associated with both the contract writing and 

financial systems. This may include at a minimum increased functionality and 

synchronicity of existing systems, securing cross-agency support, or even on a much 

larger scale the replacement of the existing systems with a newer, more efficient and 

effective solution. Improvements in the agencies end to end systems will improve 

pre-award, award, and award administration efforts, data integrity, and impart 

greater efficiency and effectiveness into the procurement process. If confirmed, I 

will continue pursuing these initiatives.· 

11. One ofthc roles of OPM is to assist other Depmtments and agencies with their strategic 

human capital planning. What do you see as the greatest challenges facing federal 

agencies in their planning effmts and as Director how would you assist them in 

addressing those challenges? 

One of the greatest risks is just to manage the system as it stands. We have not 

thoroughly taken a look for 39 years at the design of our Federal Personnel System. 

There have been many changes to the worl,place: teams, technology, the way people 

learn and worl• to perform tasl{s and activities. We must strive to achieve the right 

talent to meet the expectations and worl' performance levels that ensure and deliver 

the right services to our citizens. One example of how we can begin to solve this 

challenges is through a mobile first strategy. If confirmed, I would pursue 

implementing a mobile first strategy to meet these challenges. 

12. The Director of the Oftlcc of Management and Budget (OMB) recently issued a 

memorandum to the heads of executive branch departments and agencies asking for 

agencies to submit plans for reorganizing their agencies and reducing the size of the 

federal workforce. What human capital challenges do you foresee with the development 

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and implementation of these plans and how, as OPM Director, would you work with 

agencies to address them? 

Lilw any good HR function, OPM needs to assist agencies in their reorganizations 

and what form the reorganization takes. It affects reporting structures, capability, 

capacity, efficiency, effectiveness. F'o1· employees, this may affect their employment 

status. Rolling out reorganization requires clear pm·pose, a transition plan, and a 

methodology for implementing that change. Most of all, it requires leadership to 

move towards a better organization for better outcomes. 

13. What role should OPM play in assisting agencies that are looking at contracting out work 

that is cmrently perfom1ed by federal employees and insomcing work to federal 

employees that is currently performed by contractors? 

I believe each agency should be responsible for dete1·mining its own workforce needs 

and the appropriate balance between Federal employees and contractor support. 

14. One of the important roles ofOPM is working with agencies to malce sure that the federal 

workforce represents the diversity of the American people and agencies have inclusive 

policies to strengthen agencies' ability to meet their mission and ensure retention of 

employees. 

a. What do you believe is the role of the OPM Director in assisting agencies with 

their diversity and inclnsion efforts? 

As the agency that enforces civil service law and champions the merit system 

principles, we exhort agencies to draw from all segments of society through a 

comprehensive approach to recruitment. We draw on the wisdom of a 

workforce that is diverse on a variety of dimensions, so we are able to better 

understand and meet the needs of ou1· customers and serve the public interest. 

Govemment-wide, we have achieved a highly diverse Federal workforce and 

we will continue efforts to sustain and build upon that accomplishment. Aside 

from hiring a diverse workforce, OPM must set an example in valuing 

inclusion to gain the maximum benefit from the dive1·se worldorcc. 

b. What role do you think OPM should play in specifically addressing 

employment of individuals with disabilities? 

As the Nation's lugest employer, the Federal Government has a special 

responsibility to lead by example in including people with disabilities in the 

woi·kforcc, consistent with the missions of the respective agencies and the 

directives Congress sets forth in law. 

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15. What is your opinion of the state of veterans' employment, including use of statutory and 

discretionary hiring authorities, in the federal govetnment? If confirmed as Director, 

what would be your priorities in the area of veterans' employment? 

OPM's prominent role in hiring V cterans in Federal employment has been 

extremely effective. With participation on the Interagency Council's Steering 

Committee, OPM can continue to utilize that leadership platform to perpetuate the 

return on the investment America malies in its armed forces. The Steering 

Commitment has enhanced employment opportunities for Veterans and helped 

agencies align our Veteran's skills, training, and leadership to meet critical staffing 

needs. If confirmed, I look forward to working with the other members of the 

Steering Committee to further the intent of the Veterans Employment Initiative. 

16. What are your views with respect to the cunent hiring process within the Federal 

Govetnment, and what improvements would you recommend? 

I believe the hiring process can be intproved. If confirmed, I will work closely with 

agencies and other stakeholders to identify their current needs and the best ways to 

improve the Federal hiring process to deliver an effective workforce on behalf of 

U.S. citizens. 

17. How do you think the federal govemmcnt, and OPM in particular, can better enhance 

employee morale within the construct of being a steward of taxpayer dollars? Are there 

any programs that you would consider instituting to enhance morale? 

If eonfit·med, I look forward to working with OPM leadership to examine programs 

that enhance employee morale. 

18. Over the years, various Departments and agencies have sought and received authorities to 

establish perso1mel systems outside of govemment-wide provisions and independent of 

OPM policies and oversight. What is your opinion about the patchwork ofperso1111el 

systems and authorities that exist throughout the federal gover11lllent? 

We need to examine the "patchwork quilt" from the last 39 years and evaluate what 

is working and what is not. We may need to design our personnel systems so that 

we can update our policies and practices for today and tomorrow. In addition to 

serving as a policy maker and overseer, OPM seeks opportunities to worli as a 

strategic partner with each agency, providing solutions, tools, best practices, and 

innovation. OPM has to lead as the President's agent and lead advisor on Federal 

Human Cnpital matters. People are the most important asset to running an 

effective government. 

19. What is your opinion about the cunent state of workplace flexibilities in the federal 

govemment and the ability of agencies to usc existing tlexibilities to meet their missions? 

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There are over a hundred workplace flexibilities. Less than 25% are routinely 

used. In some cases the flexibility may not be utilized because it is not understood, 

it is too hard to use, or the effort to use versus the outcome is not advantageous. 

These flexibilities are at times "fixes" and set up exceptions to the rule. There 

should be an evaluation of the value obtained through flexibilitics taking into 

account the purposes of the merit systems principles. 

20. OPM, in coordination with OMB, sets govemment-wide personnel policies and priorities, 

and also operates a fee-for-service division thal provides a range of human resources 

support through service contracts. What is your opinion of OPM's role as a policymaking organization as well as operating as a service contract vehicle? 

The scheme that Congress created contemplates that OPM achieves its mission 

through a policy, service, and oversight frameworl,. Through regulations and 

policy, our HR Policy organization creates governance for organizations to 

administer· their HR programs, consistent with Congressional laws and intent. 

21. President Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to reduce the size of the federal 

workforce. What role do you see OPM having in accomplishing the President's stated 

objective while also ensuring that the federal govenunent can operate in an effective and 

efficient mmmer? 

Among the roles of OPM is to assist agencies to develop, and retain a workforce that 

is ready for the challenges this government faces. If confirmed, I look forward to 

working with each agency to ensure their needs are met. 

22. What impact to do you anticipate the President's proposed changes to federal employees' 

retirement benefits will have on recruitment and retention of federal employees as well as 

the deli very of services by the federal govemment? 

I am unaware of any proposed changes, but if confirmed as Director I will work 

closely with each agency and this committee to discuss any potential changes. 

III. Relations with Congress and the J'ublic 

23. If confirmed, how would you make certain that you respond in a timely maimer to 

Member requests for information? 

If confirmed, I will communicate my desire to respond in a timely manner to 

Congressional inquiries, and provide oversight of OPM staff to follow through on 

this commitment. 

24. If confirmed, do you agree without reservation to reply to any reasonable request for 

information from the Ranking Member of any duly constituted committee of the 

Congress? 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 24 
87 

Yes, I do. 

25. If con filmed, do you agree without reservation to reply to any reasonable request for 

information from members of Congress? 

Yes. I do. 

26. If confinned, do you commit to take all reasonable steps to ensure that you and your 

agency comply with deadlines established for requested information? 

Yes, I do. 

27. On May 1, 2017, the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued an 

opinion regarding how executive branch agencies should respond to requests from 

ranking members of congressional committees. The OLC opinion states that agencies 

have the "discretion" to respond to oversight requests from ranking members or 

individual members of Congress. The OLC opinion identifies that "the Executive Branch 

has historically exercised its discretion in detetmining whether and how to respond." Do 

you believe this opinion to control the Office of Personnel Management in its 

communication with Congress? If so, please describe the factors you would weigh in 

evaluating the circumstances that wmrant a response to a request by the Ranking Member 

of any duly constituted committee of Congress. 

I believe it is important for OPM to be responsive and communicate with 

Congressional Committees. If confirmed, I will work to the fullest extent possible to 

respond to requests from Congress. 

28. If confirmed, do you commit to protect subordinate officials or employees fi·om reprisal 

or retaliation for any testimony, briefings or communications with members of Congress? 

Yes, I do. 

29. If confirmed, will you ensure that your staff fully and promptly provides infommtion and 

access to appropriate documents and officials in response to requests made by the 

Govemment Accountability Oil'icc (GAO) and the Congressional Research Service? 

Yes, I will, so long as they are made in the context of specific audits or engagements 

and production is compliant with applicable law. 

30. If confirmed, vvill you agree to work with representatives fi·om this Committee and the 

GAO to promptly implement recommendations for improving OPM' s operations and 

effectiveness? 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 25 
88 

If confirmed, I will tal'e saiously all GAO recommendations and worl• toward 

resolving any problems that are identified, including adopting those 

recommendations as appropriate. 

31. If confinned, will you direct your staff to fully and promptly respond to Freedom of 

Information Act requests submitted by the American people? 

Yes, I will, subject to appropriate consideration of burden and relevant exemptions 

undet· the law. 

32. If confirmed, will you ensure that political appointees are not inappropriately involved in 

the review and release of Freedom of Infotmation Act requests? 

Yes, I will. 

IV. Assistance 

33. Are these answers your own? Have you consulted with GSA or any other interested 

parties? If so, please indicate which entities. 

While I consulted with OPM staff on backgi'Ound material to use in responding to 

these questions, the final answers are my own. 

I, 'feFf /. ~~~-iJ.~~-' hereby state that I have read the foregoing Pre-Hearing 

Questionnaire and Supplemental Questionnaires and that the information provided therein is, to 

the best of my knowledge, current, accurate, and complete. 

~) 

fill~~ ···----

This~{_dayof Dd.., ~.r __ , 2017 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 26 
89 

Senator James Lankford 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Dr. Jeff !'on 

Nominations of Jeff T.H. !'on to be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Services Administration 

Wednesday October 18,2017 

1) Regarding the security breaches to Federal employees' personal data that OPM 

announced in .June 2015, and the August 2017 GAO report that found that OI'M 

continues to lag in implementing recommended data security practices -commercial 

companies that provide cloud-based applications to Government agencies are required 

to meet FcdRAMI' and DoD security impact audits. What are your thoughts on holding 

OI'M's cloud-based solutions, including USA Staffing to same security standards as 

commercial offerings, given the breach that OI'M experienced? 

Dr. Pon: USA Staffing is an OPM provided shared service product to assist f-ederal agencies 

with the hiring process. OPM strives for all its information technology platforms. including 

internally and externally hosted platforms, to meet the appropriate and applicable cybcrsccurity 

standards. 

2) The Economy Act of 1932, as amended, permits Government agencies to purchase 

services from other Federal Agencies only if the ordered goods or services cannot be 

provided by contract from a commercial enterprise, as conveniently or cheaply as could 

he by the Government. As multiple fully federalized staffing and related commercial 

products arc available from commercial companies then why does Ol'M offer internal 

software tools when fully federalized, commercial products are available on GSA 

Schedules for easy agency acquisition? 

Dr. Pon: The Economy Act of 1932, as amended, has been an extremely beneficial authority in 

the accomplishment of agency missions. However, in 1952 Congress provided OPM revolving 

fund authority and later expanded. in 1996, the scope ofOPM's revolving fund authority to 

include reimbursable services for a wide range of human capital management services. 

Moreover. operative law governing OPM's activities contemplates that OPM should recover the 

costs of performing functions. like staffing, that are now largely delegated to agencies. OPM 

leverages its revolving fund authority to provide services both directly and through contractual 

arrangements. 13y doing so, it can enhance service offerings and technology solutions for 

government agencies. In some eases, such as a hiring process, OPM can itself provide the work 

needed to support an agency selection process, if the agency docs not wish to perform, or lacks 

the resources to perform the function itself. In other areas, OPM provides a blended solution. The 

process is straightforward. OPM, when invited to do so by agencies. validates major human 

capital needs and challenges facing agencies. OPM next engages with industry to evaluate 

private sector solutions and innovations to enhance existing solutions or to provide new 

capabilities to the Federal human capital community. OPM then institutes "best-in-class" 

contractual relationships with private sector partners or an agreement between f-ederal 

Page 1 of 20 
90 

organizations if necessary. OPM's offerings are not mandatory-use offerings, so agency decision 

makers conduct best interest of the Government evaluations by scrutinizing OPM blended 

private sector offerings and independently presented competitive private sector offerings. 

3) The administration recognizes and promotes the value of innovation that comes 

from competition in the commercial marketplace. With OPM having a non-competitive, 

non-expiring interagency agreement with the Department of Defense to use OPM's USA 

Staffing and related products exclusively, what incentive docs OPM have to continually 

innovate with these products as its largest customer, providing over half of OPM's 

software solutions revenue, is not open to competition? 

Dr. Pon: 1 believe OPM understands that innovation is critical to perpetuating its partnership 

with DoD, a major USA Staffing customer. DoD innovation and enhancement priorities are 

channeled through the USA Staffing Advisory Board which has representation from each DoD 

component. The USA Staffing Advisory Board drives the development of USA Staffing's 

expanded capabilities like onboarding and workload/time-to-hire analytics allowing DoD and 

other agencies to consolidate HR systems. OPM, through USA Statling, looks to drive longterm, systemic HR improvements leveraging agile soilware development in delivering 

continuous software improvements with releases of new functionality every few weeks. 

4) In the ongoing OM B-led government-wide reorganization, OPM will play a 

leading role in helping agencies restructure their organizations and workforces to 

improve mission delivery, customer service, and efficiency. What role should OPM 

play alongside OMB in the reorganization? How will OPM work with OMB to 

measure progress toward workforce reshaping and the impact of workforce changes 

on mission? 

Dr. Pon: As a thought leader in the area of human resources, tbe President's chief advisor with 

respect to the needs of the civil service, and the agency charged with the effectuation of the rules 

governing the civil service, as well as accountability systems for measuring agency performance 

with respect to human resource ti.mctions, OPM should assist agencies in their reorganization 

etlorts and in determining what forms the reorganizations should take. Reorganization affects 

reporting structures. capability, capacity, efficiency, and effectiveness. For employees, this may 

affect their employment status. Rolling out a reorganization requires clear purpose, a transition 

plan, and a methodology for implementing that change. Most of all, it requires leadership to 

move towards a better organization for better outcomes. If confirmed, I will partner with OMB 

and other agencies to work to achieve success in reorganization ctTorts. 

Page 2 of 20 
91 

Senator Steve Daines 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Dr. Jeff Pon 

Nominations of JeffT.H. Ponto be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Services Administration 

Wednesday October 18, 2017 

l. In Apri12014, OPM finalized regulations that changed the fee structure for the 

Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) from "pay-as-you-go" to fixed. The minimum 

fee for small nonprofits is now $275 annually, which is prohibitive to many of 

Montana's small nonprofits. Based on feedback I have received from the Montana 

Nonprofit Association, 100% of nonprofits that participated last season won't 

participate this coming season. Do you see the concerns of small nonprofits that may 

only receive $300 to $500 each year through the CFC'! If confirmed, will you 

commit to working on legislation with my staff ensure CFC fees don't keep small 

rural non profits from participating? 

Dr. Pon: I understand and appreciate that some have concerns. due to the new fee structure. I 

understand that the new fee structure is based on recommendations from the CFC-50 

Commission, an advisory committee composed of Federal employees, private campaign 

administrators, charitable organizations and "watchdog'' groups. If confirmed, I commit to 

working with all of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) stakeholders, including Congress 

and small nonprofits, toward the end of having CFC remain a robust platform for Federal 

employees across the country to donate to charities. 

Page 3 of 20 
92 

Ranking Member Claire McCaskill 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Dr. Jeff Pon 

Nominations of JeffT.H. Ponto be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Services Administration 

Wednesday October 18,2017 

COOPERATION WITH CONGRESS 

Q: Do you agree that l<'OIA exemptions do not apply to congressional oversight 

requests? 

Dr. Pon: I agree that FOIA exemptions do not apply to congressional requests emanating from a 

chamber or Committee of Congress, acting in its oversight role. 

Q: Will you pledge to copy the Ranking Member and/or staff on all official 

correspondence with the Committee and ensure that such correspondence is 

transmitted to the Ranking Member's office contemporaneous with transmittal to 

the Committee? 

Dr. Pon: Yes. 

Q: Will you pledge to ensure that all meetings, briefings, and other official engagements 

with the Committee staff include both the majority and minority? 

Dr. Pon: I pledge to work with Congress, and specifically this Committee in its role as an 

overseer, as appropriate. 

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS 

Despite the ongoing reforms, the National Background Investigations Bureau is still in the 

process of addressing the backlog of more than 700,000 cases. 

Q: If confirmed, what additional reforms will you prioritize to ensure that NBIB can 

make a real dent in alleviating this backlog? 

Dr. Pon: If confirmed, I will support the ongoing efforts of the National Background 

Investigations Bureau's (NBIB) to grow capacity in its Federal and contractor workforce. I will 

also support ~RIB's initiatives to reduce the level of efiort required by investigators to work on 

each case through streamlining processes, reallocating resources, and updating internal policies 

to permit greater et1iciencies and etTcctivcncss while simultaneously maintaining quality and 

reciprocity for all of Government. I am also committed to working through the Performance 

Accountability Council (PAC) on process reforn1 efforts that will benefit the entire Government. 

Page 4 of20 
93 

In February of this year, I wrote a letter to the Government Accountability Office 

requesting a comprehensive review and report regarding the transfer of background 

investigation functions to identify lessons learned and to develop a comprehensive strategy 

for a government-wide security clearance background investigation program. GAO's 

work remains ongoing. 

Q: If confirmed, will you commit to implementing all of GAO's recommendations to 

improve the security clearance background investigation program? 

Dr. Pon: If confirmed, I will support any etlorts undertaken by GAO to engage with OPM on this 

topic and will support resolution of any resulting audit findings. 

WHISTLE BLOWER PROTECTION 

Q: What steps can federal agencies take to ensure that employees feel comfortable 

reporting misconduct to their management without fear of retaliation? 

Dr. Pon: It is important for Federal agencies to create an environment where employees feel 

comfortable reporting misconduct to management without fear of retaliation. By communicating, 

listening, and leading by example, agency leaders can show their workforce that reports of 

misconduct will be taken seriously. It is important for agencies to protect whistleblowers and to 

inform employees of the various methods for reporting misconduct and other waste, fraud and 

abuse within the Federal Government. 

Q: How will you work to promote a culture where employees can raise concerns to 

senior management, including directly to you? 

Dr. Pon: If confirmed. I will communicate my expectations to both management and employees 

that employees should be able to raise any work-related concerns to senior management. In 

addition. I will stress to management the importance of listening and taking appropriate action 

when an employee discloses an issue of wrongdoing. 

SUPPORTING DISASTER RELIEF 

In August, OPM announced that it approved a special solicitation of federal employees at 

th1~ workplace to support the victims of Hurricane Harvey. 

Q: If confirmed, what other steps should OPM take to support the federal 

government's disaster relief and recovery efforts? 

Dr. Pon: OPM has already taken steps to establish three emergency leave transfer programs to 

allow Federal employees to donate unused annual leave to those impacted in recent natural 

disasters (Harvey, Irma and Maria). OPM is also supporting OilS FEMA Surge Capacity Force 

and Small Business Administration in their efforts to solicit volunteers for the emergency 

response and recovery missions. Additionally, OPM is sending its own employee volunteers to 

Page 5 of 20 
94 

support FEMA Surge Capacity with other Federal agencies to work in areas hardest hit in order 

to provide necessary on-the-ground support. If confirmed, I would continue these efforts and 

work with Federal agencies to understand areas ol continued need. 

Numerous reports indicate that federal disaster mitigation, relief, and recovery efforts have 

been hindered by understaffing at agencies including the National Weather Service, and 

the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

Q: How can OPM work with other federal agencies to ensure that these types of 

staffing shortfalls do not persist and undermine service delivery to Americans 

devastated by natural disasters? 

Dr. Pon: OPM seeks opportunities to work as a strategic partner with each agency, providing 

solutions, tools, best practices, and innovation. OPM has to lead as the President's agent and lead 

advisor on Fcdcrall!uman Capital matters. If confirmed, I will work closely with agencies and 

other stakeholders to identify their current needs and the best ways to meet mission needs. To the 

extent some aspect of the hiring process is a concern, I would consider ways the hiring process 

can be improved. We may need to design our personnel systems so that we can update our 

policies and practices for today and tomorrow. 

BOLSTERING INFORMATION TECH:"/OLOGY AND CYBER SECURITY 

Following the 2014 data breach at OPM, the agency dedicated significant resources toward 

re-authorizing the IT and cyber security systems that were neglected. Despite these efforts, 

in June 2017, the OPM Inspector General found that OPM's management of system 

authorizations continues to represent a material weakness in the agency's IT security 

program. 

Q: If confirmed, will you ensure that OPM implements all of the Inspector General's 

recommendations? 

Dr. Pon: If confirmed, I will work with OPM' s Office of the Chieflnformation Officer and 

Office of the Inspector General to implement recommendations and resolve audit findings to the 

greatest extent possible. 

Q: What additional actions will you take to address the deficiencies in OPM's IT 

infrastructure and ensure that a similar breach does not occur going forward'? 

Dr. Pon: If confirmed, the security of OPM's systems and data will continue to be an OPM 

priority, an important aspect of agency culture from the top down, and an area of continual 

enhancement. Upgrading OPM's IT infrastructure is a central component of OPM's risk 

mitigation strategy, to address both cybcrsecurity risks and the operational risk posed by 

outdated and underperforming equipment. In addition, OPM has centralized its cybersecurity 

resources and efforts under the Chief Information Security Officer, published policies so that 

proactive steps can be taken to secure and control access to sensitive information, and continues 

to engage regularly with the Office of the Inspector General to collaborate and rcmediate audit 

Page 6 of 20 
95 

findings. OPM has implemented critical enhancements to strengthen the security ofOPM's 

networks and has improved its security and assessment authorization process. OPM has also 

taken a leadership role in its support for Federal initiatives such as the OMB cyber sprint and the 

DHS Continuous Diagnostic and Mitigation program. If confirmed, I will work with the Office 

of the Chief Information Officer to support these important activities along with continuing to 

train and educate end users on cyber risk avoidance and supporting implementation of new and 

enhanced security policies, processes and procedures. 

ACCOU:\TTABILITY FOR FEDERAL WORKERS 

One of the persistent challenges facing the federal workforce is that the misconduct of a 

few can cast a shadow over the millions of diligent federal employees working on behalf of 

the American people every day. Moreover, if confirmed, you will be entering these roles at 

a time when employee morale is significantly low due to threats of government shutdowns 

and proposed budget cuts in pay, retirement and health care for federal employees. 

Q: Do you support the President's proposed cuts, and why? If these cuts arc adopted, 

what are your plans to empower federal employees and to improve employee morale 

government-wide? 

Dr. Pan: Retirement benefit is an impmiant component of the Federal compensation package. As 

the retirement benefit landscape changes, many private companies (both for profit and nonprofit) are reducing or eliminating their defined benefit plans; many are opting for a greater focus 

on defined contribution plans. The shift away from de tined benelits programs and cost of living 

adjustments for annuitants is part of that evolution and trend. The proposals maintain a Federal 

defined benefit program, but will help bring the Federal retirement benefits more in line with the 

private sector while reducing costs. In the context of the broader labor environment, I believe 

the implementation of retirement benefit changes will not significantly 'impact the Federal 

Government's recruiting and retention efforts. If confirmed, I look forward to working with 

OP:vlleadership to examine programs that enhance employee morale. 

VETERANS PREFERENCE 

Since Veterans Hiring Initiative was launched by Executive Order 13518, Employment of 

Veterans in tile Federal Government, the percentage of veterans represented in the federal 

workforce has increased from 25.8% in fiscal year 2009 to 31.1% in fiscal year 2016, 

according to recently reported data by OPM. This marks tremendous progress in the 

hiring of veterans across the federal government. Hiring reform was also discussed during 

your confi1·mation process. 

Q: If confirmed, will you commit to continue the work of the V ctcrans Hiring Initiative 

and Executive Order 13518? 

Dr. Pan: OPM's prominent role in hiring Veterans in Federal employment has been extremely 

effective. With participation on the Interagency Council's Steering Committee, OPM can 

continue to utilize that leadership platform to perpetuate the return on the investment America 

Page 7 of 20 
96 

makes in its armed forces. The Steering Commitment has enhanced employment opportunities 

for Veterans and helped agencies align our Veteran's skills, training, and leadership to meet 

critical staffing needs. If confirmed, I look forward to working with the other members of the 

Steering Committee to further the intent of the Veterans Employment Initiative. 

Q: What, if any, changes do you believe are necessary to veterans preference in the 

hiring process and do you commit to preserving veterans preference in any hiring 

reform initiative? 

Dr. Pon: Our Veterans have made tremendous sacrifices for our country. and it is only right that 

we assist them in making the transition back to civilian life. Veterans currently represent 

approximately one-third of the total U.S. Federal workforce and statutory tools like Veterans' 

preference have been effective. while discretionary hiring authorities provide agencies 

reasonable hiring flexibility. Efforts like the Veterans Employment Initiative and the work of the 

Interagency Council on Veterans Employment has also helped Veterans find positions across 

agencies and not just in those agencies you would expect a large Veterans population. I look 

forward to sustaining the great strides we have made. 

Page 8 of 20 
97 

Senator Thomas R. Carper 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Dr. Jeff Pon 

Nominations of Jeff T.H. Pon to be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael.!. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Services Administration 

Wednesday October 18,2017 

Federal Emplovee Morale 

I. The latest Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey found some improvement in overall 

employee engagement and satisfaction in the federal government. However, the 

President's FY18 budget request proposes changes to the federal employee 

1·etirement programs that would result in significant cuts to employees' pay and 

benefits. 

What are your views on the impacts of these proposals to employee morale, and 

what effect do you believe these proposals will have on the ability of agencies to 

successfully recruit and retain a first class workforce'! 

Dr. Pon: Retirement benefit is an important component of the Federal compensation package. As 

the retirement benefit landscape changes, many private companies (both for profit and nonprofit) are reducing or eliminating their defined benefit plans; many are opting for a greater focus 

on defined contribution plans. The shift away from defined benefits programs and cost ofliving 

adjustments for annuitants is part of that evolution and trend. The proposals maintain a Federal 

defined benefit program, but will help bring the Federal retirement benefits more in line with the 

private sector while reducing costs. In the context of the broader labor environment, I believe the 

implementation of retirement benefit changes will not significantly impact the Federal 

Government's recruiting and retention efforts. 

Page 9 of 20 
98 

Senator Heidi Heitkamp 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Dr. Jeff Pon 

Nominations of Jeff T.H. Ponto be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Services Administration 

Wednesday October 18,2017 

1. As you know, in 2015, OPM suffered a breach of its network, specifically a 

personnel records database and its security clearance information. Information 

technology management has been a significant issue for Ol'M over the yearsdating back to Retire EZ-- and the recent departure of its new CIO only raises 

additional concerns. 

a. What experience do you have in IT management and what do you believe is 

needed to ensure that OPM can meet its mission in the digital age while 

protecting individuals' personal information? 

Dr. Pon: While previously at OPM, I was a government-wide project manager. I managed and 

provided oversight for OPM's teams that managed several OP:vt IT systems. including 

Enterprise Human Resource Integration (eOPF ), USAJOBS, ePayroll, eTraining and 

eC!earance. On these teams. I oversaw implementation of Federal Information Security 

Management Act (FISMA) requirements and related National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance. I also supervised 

certified cybersecurity professionals who worked on the teams and audit teams for the systems. 

In this capacity, I established cross-functional relationships within the OPM programs and 

developed interagency and inter-branch partnerships with, among others, the Government 

Accountability Office and Congressional statf. Enhancing cybersecurity and safeguarding of 

OPM information is a critical priority. I believe OPM has made progress in strengthening the 

safeguards of its systems by, among other things, centralizing the cybersecurity program under 

the Chieflnformation Security Ot1iccr, creating and implementing new and enhanced security 

policies, processes and procedures, taking proactive measures to educate OPM users about ways 

to reduce cybersccurity risk, and deploying modern security tools to protect the OPM 

environment If confirmed as Director, I will work with the OCJO so that OPM continues its 

work to improve and further secure its systems. 

b. If confirmed, do you support continuation of the law providing 10 years of 

credit monitoring and identity restoration services? 

Dr. Pan: I am open to this possibility and, if contirn1cd, would be happy to discuss it with you 

and your staff. 

c. OPM has long struggled with how to modernize its retirement processing 

and other data clement exchanges with agencies, and how to pay for such 

activities. What arc your thoughts on how you will oversee actual 

Page 10 of 20 
99 

improvements to retirement processing, both for current employees about to 

retire and for those long retired? 

Dr. Pon: Improving the reporting of Federal employee work records generated by employing 

organizations will improve the speed and accuracy of retirement calculations. Collaboration 

between OPM business functions and the OCIO is ongoing in order to develop new and 

innovative solutions needed to better serve the American citizens. I understand Retirement 

Services (RS) developed and is in the process of implementing its Strategic IT Vision. which is 

to transition the Retirement Program fi·om a paper-based to a paperless system by authorizing 

accurate retirement benefit payments on the day they arc due, answering customers' questions in 

the time and manner they expect, and promoting scll~service account maintenance via PC, tablet 

or other mobile device. In 2017, RS expects to configure much of the base of the RS case 

management system and implement it, and we expect to build the online retirement application. 

If confirmed, I will support these efforts and work toward their timely completion. 

d. USA.JOBS is the federal government's main hiring portal, and despite recent 

upgrades, continues to be criticized by some agencies and applicants. As 

OPM Director, what strategic plans do you have for USAJOBS and USA 

Staffing? 

Dr. Pon: OPM must continually look to improve USA.JOBS and USA Sta/1ing. With around 20 

million Federal job applications processed annually, it's critical that OPM provide innovative 

assessment tools to help agencies sort through large applicant pools effectively and efticiently to 

identify top talent and enable selection in accordance with applicable Jaw. This includes finding 

new ways to help applicants identify and apply for jobs that are a best tit, while also connecting 

agencies with communities ofintcrest encompassing individuals who may not immediately think 

to pursue Federal employment. This requires USAJOBS and USA Staffing to align agencies with 

search tools and functions that allow those seeking applicants to find resumes and invite job 

seekers to apply. consistent with applicable law. It also means making sure that USAJOBS is 

user-friendly for applicants to conduct searches in a way that makes inf(Jrmation easily 

accessible and presents it in plain language. Understanding the scope of the Federal Government. 

OPM should collaborate with our Federal partners to create a unified and consistent applicant 

experience regardless of the agency or position for which the applicant is applying to the extent 

possible. This can be achieved by listening to the Federal Government's diverse applicants and 

creating software that is responsive to their unique needs while still fulfilling the system· s 

statutory purposes. 

e. In light of the recent cybcr incidents, OPM began an expensive upgrade of its 

IT system using a significant amount of money from FIS/NBIB. If OPM 

were to lose security clearance and other investigative functions, what would 

be your plan for addressing subsequent funding losses or large agency 

investments? 

Page 11 of 20 
100 

Dr. Pon: If confirmed as the OPM Director, I would work with OPM's Chief Financial Officer 

and Chief Information Ofiicer to fully understand the agency's current fiscal posture and any 

future hypotheticals. 

2. If confirmed as the Director of OPM, you will be coming into the position at a time 

when employee morale is low due to threats of government shutdowns and rumors 

of reductions in force. 

a. What steps do you plan to take to improve employee morale governmentwide during this difficult time? 

Dr. Pon: On the most recent Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), the results indicate 

that government-wide employee engagement has increased for the last several years. It is 

important for senior leaders and managers to sustain this outcome and continue making progress 

in this area. The FEVS is a valuable tool that can assist Federal agencies with identifying 

strengths as well as areas in need of improvement that can have a direct impact on employee 

morale. If confirmed, I look forward to working with OPM leadership and the Chief Human 

Capital Officers Council to further examine programs and best practices that enhance employee 

morale. 

b. The Administration has highlighted OPM's standing up a streamlined 

process to handle an increased volume of agency requests for early-outs. 

What details can you provide about what actions OPM has already taken, 

and what plans do you have in this area if confirmed as OPM Director? 

Dr. Pon: Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments 

(VERAIVS!P) can be important to agencies in their long-tcnn planning efforts. lam happy to see 

OPM and OMB worked closely in recent months to collaborate on developing a streamlined 

process and simpler templates for agencies to usc in submitting their requests. If l am confirmed 

as the Director of OPM, l will prioritize consideration of feedback and improvements to 

customer service, consistent with applicable legal standards, concerning the status of 

VERAIVS!P requests so agencies can conduct their planning operations as smoothly as possible. 

3. In 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13522, Creating LaborManagement Forums to Improve Delivery of Government Services. As E.O. 13522 

makes clear, pre-decisional involvement (PDI) is an important component of the 

implementation of labor management forums, and therefore calls for agencies to 

involve employees and their union representatives in pre-decisional discussions 

concerning all workplace matters to the fullest extent practicable. Front-line 

employees and their union representatives have essential ideas and information 

about delivering quality government services to the public and the PDI process 

allows employees, through their labor representatives, to have meaningful input 

resulting in better quality decision-making, more support for decisions, timelier 

implementation, and better results for the American people. According to the 

October 2014 Labor-Management Relations in the Executive Oranch report issued 

Page 12 of 20 
101 

by OPM, there arc numerous instances where PHI and employee engagement efforts 

have been successful and increased agency productivity and employee morale. 

a. Recently President Trump rescinded the Obama EO creating labor 

management partnerships. What is your view on the state of labor relations 

in the federal government and what would your approach be to working with 

federal employee unions? What is your view of PHI? 

Dr. Pon: I look forward to working with employee representatives in accordance with Federal 

sector labor law on issues of importance to the civil service. l will negotiate with OPM's local 

unions consistent with the law. 

4. There have been various calls over the past few years to reform the civil service in 

the areas of hiring, pay, performance management, employee protections, and 

removals. Defenders of the current system note that while there may be some issues 

in implementation, the current process ensures fairness through transparency and 

by providing employees with protections from unfair labor practices, 

discrimination, and retaliation. 

a. Uo you believe civil service reforms arc needed, and if so, what steps do you 

believe should be taken to ensure that the changes arc fair, transparent, and 

protect employees? 

Dr. Pon: We need to re-examine our practices to make sure we are doing all that we can to 

attract. develop, and retain a workforce that is ready for the challenges this government currently 

faces. Hiring authorities, training, performance management systems. and total rewards should 

all be looked at government-wide. Department-specific reforms may make sense for certain 

situations; however, we are still one single government and I believe that managing the 

government as effectively and cllicicntly as possible benefits from standardization. 

simplification, and unification. I believe in cultivating collaboration and, if confirmed, !look 

forward to working with others. in hearing ideas to promote fairness, transparency, and the 

protection of Federal employees as well as merit principles such as hiring individuals with the 

highest relative levels of knowledge, skill, and ability. 

5. The President's FY18 budget request proposes changes to the federal employee 

retirement programs that would result in significant cuts to employees' pay and 

benefits. This has resulted in morale issues across the federal government and 

concerns over the proposal's impact on recruitment and retention. 

a. What arc your views on the impacts of these proposals, and what value do 

you believe the federal community places on retirement and health care 

benefits, particularly given its pay challenges? 

Dr. Pon: Retirement benefit is an important component of the Federal compensation package. As 

the retirement benefit landscape changes, many private companies (both for profit and nonPage 13 of ZO 
102 

protit) are reducing or eliminating their defined benefit plans; many are opting for a greater focus 

on defined contribution plans. The shift away from defined benefits programs and cost of living 

adjustments for annuitants is pm1 of that evolution and trend. The proposals maintain a Federal 

defined benefit program, but will help bring the Federal retirement benefits more in line with the 

private sector while reducing costs. In the context of the broader labor environment, I believe the 

implementation of retirement benefit changes will not signiticantly impact the Federal 

government's recruiting and retention efforts. Finally, I believe the health care plans OPM 

oversees through the FEHI3P- which number in the hundreds should be reviewed to ensure 

Federal health benefits are administered efficiently and effectively. 

6. Earlier this year, OMB issued agencies guidance on how to implement the 

President's EO on reorganizing the federal government. While agencies were to 

provide their plans to OMB at the end of September, I'm interested in your views on 

reorganizing the federal government, and what role you envision OPM would play 

with the EO. 

a. What changes do you believe need to be made'? What arc your views on 

outsourcing federal jobs to the private sector? 

Dr. Pon: As a thought leader in the area of human resources, the President's chief advisor with 

respect to the needs of the civil service, and the agency charged with the effectuation of the rules 

governing the civil service, as well as accountability systems for measuring agency performance 

with respect to human resource functions, OPM should assist agencies in their reorganization 

efforts and in determining what forms the reorganizations should take. Reorganization affects 

rcpot1ing structures, capability, capacity. efficiency, and effectiveness. For employees, this may 

affect their employment status. Rolling out a reorganization requires clear purpose, a transition 

plan, and a methodology for implementing that change. Most of all, it requires leadership to 

move towards a better organization for better outcomes. 

With respect to the latter question, I believe contractors can help agencies meet their missions, 

when used appropriately for activities that are not inherently governmental. In some cases, 

contractors can provide services that support agency missions at a reduced cost or in a faster 

timeframc, especially if there is a short-term need or a specialized skill set required. Further, I 

believe each agency should be responsible for determining its own workforce needs and the 

appropriate balance between Federal employees and contractor support, consistent with 

applicable law. 

7. OPM plays an important role in providing HR and policy guidance to employing 

agencies, often times for complex and obscure personnel rules, and ensuring that the 

merit systems principles arc followed. Many agencies complain that OPM's 

regulations arc problematic or that OPM stands as a roadblock to their efforts to 

improve agency performance. Others see OPM becoming a mere extension of 0.\'IB 

when it comes to matters of federal personnel policy. 

Page 14 of 20 
103 

a. What do you see as the appropriate role of OPM and its relationship with 

OMB? If confirmed, what operations model do you plan to establish in 

terms of responding to agency HR requirements and needs, and in terms of 

dealing with agency heads and OMB? 

Dr. Pon: OPM and the Of1ice of Management and Budget (OMB) are two separate independent 

agencies. While the two agencies' missions complement one another in their focus on good 

government in the best interests of the American public, the agencies also have distinct equities. 

If confirmed, I am committed to working with OMB, agency heads, hiring managers and human 

resources statl to help them fulfill their human resources needs, consistent with applicable law 

and merit system principles. 

8. Program Managers play an important function in making sure government 

programs run efficiently and effectively. Last Congress, I cosponsored the Program 

Management Improvement and Accountability Act, which, among other things, 

instructs OPM to create a formal job series and career path for program managers 

in the federal government. 

a. I want to make sure you are aware of the importance of the program 

management workforce and will make sure it is a priority if you are 

confirmed. 

Dr. Pon: OPM is already working closely with OMB on this e±Tort. I understand the importance 

of the program management workforce. 

9. It is important that we make sure agency supervisors have the tools and skills 

needed to effectively guide their teams and create the effective and efficient federal 

workforce our nation needs. That is one of the reasons I introduced my supervisor 

training legislation at the end of last Congress. 

a. How can OPM play a role in improving this process? 

Dr. Pon: As a setter of policy, OPM can work with agencies to identify their training needs and 

work toward policies that enhance workforce readiness. As an entity charged with the separate 

mission of providing reimbursable services for Federal agencies, OPM can develop both 

government-wide and agency-specific training opportunities. OPM can also lead and assist 

government-wide eiTorts in a way that is more strategic and data-driven to enable agencies to 

meet their missions by equipping supervisors with the tools they need. 

I 0. l find it astounding that nearly a third of the federal workforce will be eligible to 

retire in 2019. It is essential that the federal government be prepared to recruit and 

retain the top talent from this generation of workers as effectively as possible, and 

as soon as possible. 

Page 15 of 20 
104 

a. What arc the primary barriers to attracting and retaining qualified 

individuals-particularly younger generations-to the federal workforce? 

Dr. Pon: If confirmed, I am committed to working with agency hiring managers and human 

resources statTto help them identify their needs and challenges they may face in linding and 

recruiting the best professionals to 11ll their positions, consistent with applicable law and merit 

system principles. 

11. The Economy Act of 1932, as amended, (31 U.S.C. § 1 535), permits Government 

agencies to purchase services from other Federal Agencies only if the ordered goods 

or services cannot be provided as conveniently or cheaply by contract from a 

commercial enterprise. Currently, OPM's HR Solutions division provides online 

human resources management services through USA Staffing, USA Hire, and USA 

Performance, while a variety of commercial providers provide similar and 

competitive products. 

a. Could you briefly elaborate on the process you will use to determine how 

OPM will manage and leverage software development solutions and 

capabilities within the department and in the private sector? 

Dr. Pon: The Economy Act of 1932, as amended, has been an extremely beneficial authority in 

the accomplishment of agency missions. However. in 1952 Congress provided OPM revolving 

fund authority and later expanded, in 1996, the scope of OPM's revolving fund authority to 

include reimbursable services tor a wide range of human capital management services. 

Moreover, operative law governing OPM's activities contemplates that OPM should recover the 

costs of performing functions, like staffing, that are now largely delegated to agencies. OPM 

leverages its revolving fund authority to provide services both directly and through contractual 

arrangements. By doing so, it can enhance service offerings and technology solutions for 

government agencies. In some cases. such as a hiring process, OPM can itself provide the work 

needed to support an agency selection process, if the agency does not wish to perform, or lacks 

the resources to perf(mn the function itself. In other areas, OPM provides a blended solution. The 

process is straightforward. Ol'M, when invited to do so by agencies, validates major human 

capital needs and challenges facing agencies. OPM next engages with industry to evaluate 

private sector solutions and innovations to enhance existing solutions or to provide new 

capabilities to the Federal human capital community. OPM then institutes "best-in-class" 

contractual relationships with private sector partners or an agreement between Federal 

organizations if necessary. OPM's offerings are not mandatory-use offerings, so agency decision 

makers conduct best interest of the Government evaluations by scrutinizing OPM blended 

private sector offerings and independently presented competitive private sector offerings. 

b. Will you commit to ensuring that OPM gives fair consideration to products 

and services provided by the private sector? 

Dr. Pon: Yes. I do. 

Page 16 of 20 
105 

12. I would like to follow-up on a question asked during the hearing regarding OPM 

having a non-competitive, non-expiring interagency agreement with the Department 

of Defense (DOD) to usc OPM's USA Staffing and related products exclusively. 

a. If confirmed, how will you make sure OPM has sufficient incentive to 

continually innovate its products with DOD'! 

Dr. Pon: I believe OPM understands that innovation is critical to perpetuating its partnership 

with DOD, a major USA Staffing customer. DOD innovation and enhancement priorities are 

channeled through the USA Staffing Advisory Board which has representation from each DoD 

component. The USA Staffing Advisory Board drives the development of USA Staffing's 

expanded capabilities like on boarding and workload/time-to-hire analytics allowing DOD and 

other agencies to consolidate human resources systems. OPM, through USA Staffing, looks to 

drive long-term, systemic human resources improvements leveraging agile software development 

in delivering continuous software improvements with releases of new functionality every few 

weeks. 

b. What role, if any, do you sec the private sector playing in this regard? 

Dr. Pon: First, because OPM has no ability to "corner" the market, companies in the private 

sector are always potential competitors, which means that OPM must make sure its own 

offerings are competitive in the relevant market. Second, the private sector plays a major 

strategic partnership role in providing state of the art capabilities, top talent, and industry leading 

practices which are blended together in the delivery of USA Staffing. For example, OPM has 

partnered with the private sector for USA Hire, which is an extension of the USA Staffing 

program and provides computer adaptive testing to evaluate applicant qualifications. USA Hire 

is hosted and maintained by OPM private sector partners. USA Stafling also has a blanket 

purchase agreement with several recruitment and branding private sector partners to increase 

outreach efforts. With private sector partnerships like these, USA StatTtng is able to leverage 

private sector tools and incorporate them, at scale, into the Federal hiring process. As one of 

several OPM private sector partnerships, USA Hire exemplifies a blended private sector 

partnership which delivers high-quality solutions, addressing a significant gap in the Federal 

hiring process and providing agencies with the opportunity to make better hires. 

Page 17 of 20 
106 

Senator Kamala Harris 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Dr. Jeff Pon 

Nominations of Jeff T.H. Pon to be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Services Administration 

Wednesday October 18, 2017 

Federal Workforce Diversity and Inclusion 

During your nomination hearing, you committed to reading Executive Order 13583, 

"Establishing a Coordinated Government-Wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and 

Inclusion in the Federal Workforce.'' 

l. What specifically will you do to pursue and continue the policies in Executive Order 

13583 and strengthen diversity in the federal workforce? 

Dr. Pon: I believe in adherence to the merit system principles, which counsel, among other 

things, that recruitment should be lrom qualified individuals from appropriate sources in an 

endeavor to achieve a work force from all segments of society. A broad range of perspectives, 

experiences, skills. approaches and methods arc helpli.Il in addressing the problems facing the 

Federal Government. Therefore, as agencies work to solve these problems. they should actively 

recruit from all segments of society and provide broad leadership development opportunities to 

build their pipelines for future leaders. In this efTort, I understand that OPM has developed 

multiple tools. guidance, programs and courses for agencies and these efforts should continue to 

be suppot1ed. l have reviewed Executive Order 13583 and related materials. and, if confirmed, I 

will continue to build upon the goals identified in Governmentwide Inclusive Diversity Strategic 

Plan issued by OPM in 2016, which outlines the second phase of implementation of Executive 

Order 13583, in compliance with all applicable authorities. 

While minority groups are under-represented across the federal workforce, this is 

especially true of the Senior Executive Service (SES). 

I. What specifically will you do to ensure that agencies are sourcing a more diverse 

applicant pool for SES positions? 

Dr. Pon: It is my understanding, based on the last data OPM posted to its website, that minorities 

as a whole arc no longer under-represented across the Federal workforce, although their 

representation lags somewhat in SES positions. I expect that the workforce in SES positions will 

become more diverse over time, in light of the fact that the Federal workforce in General 

Schedule positions is now quite diverse. As agencies continue to pursue recruitment in a manner 

that values diversity and inclusion within the SES. I will encourage agencies to recruit from a 

broad array of sources, drawing from all segments of society and to provide leadership 

development opportunities to all in order to build their applicant pools for future leaders. As I 

Page 18 of 20 
107 

noted above, OPM has developed mulliple tools, guidance, programs and courses for agencies 

and these efimts should continue to be supported. 

2. How will you help agencies better use data to strengthen diversity among theSES 

and what tools will you provide to help agencies ensure a more diverse SES? 

Dr. Pan: I will continue to help agencies translate demographic data into more meaningful 

guidance that can help drive improvements to recruitment. Designing a robust recruitment 

program that reaches out to a broad spectrum of candidates can help enhance the diversity of 

applicant pools for SES positions. OPM has quantitative tools for agencies to use to drive quality 

decision making. The tools allow agencies to establish metrics. monitor trends, disseminate 

repmts and educate Senior Leaders on diversity of applicants, hires, separations, promotions, and 

awards by variables such as race, ethnicity, sex, and disability and veteran status. OPM will 

continue to provide government-wide data, guidance, and best practices to help agencies enhance 

and/or sustain the diversity of their workforce. consistent with the merit system principles and 

applicable law. 

3. What metrics will you use to measure success on diversity and inclusion efforts? 

Dr. Pan: By law, OPM is responsible for preparing the Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment 

Program Report to Congress, which provides a great deal of helpful data. The success of 

diversity and inclusion ciTorts can be measured quantitatively using metrics across the 

employment life cycle: the on board workforce, the applicant pool, the demographics of those 

hired or placed, rates of participation in training/development. rates of participation in 

advancement/promotions and retention. Beyond numbers. an important measure is the perception 

of employees about their workplace. Annually. OPM issues the Federal Employee Viewpoint 

Survey. The findings continue to provide employee feedback to support agency improvement 

efforts, consistent with applicable law. 

4. OPM issued the second part of a strategic plan around diversity and inclusion in 

2016. Do you commit to reviewing this in full and providing me with your analysis 

of this work as well as how you plan to address diversity and inclusion within 120 

days of being confirmed? 

Dr. Pan: Yes. 

Protections (or LGBTQ Federal Employees 

1. In 2015, OPM joined the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. 

Office of Special Counsel and the U.S. Merit System Protection Board to issue a 

guide on LGBT discrimination protections for federal workers. Do you commit to 

maintaining this guide? How will you ensure that it is made available to agencies 

and employees? 

Dr. Pon: Yes. The guide is made available on OPM's website at 

Page 19 of 20 
108 

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/diversity-and-inclusion/rcferencematerials/addressing-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-discrimination-in-fcderalcivilian-emplovment.pdf 

Federal Management Labor Relations 

On September 29, President Trump rescinded an Executive Order that established 

labor management forums across the federal government. These forums were designed to 

allow labor and management to better communicate and ensure that the voices of 

employees were represented in decision-making that affects the workplace. 

1. In light of this rescission, how do you plan to work with labor to ensure the views of 

front-line employees arc at the decision-making table? 

2. This January, the President issued a hiring freeze and directed the Office of 

Management and Budget, in consultation with OPM, to reduce the size of the 

federal workforce. Do you believe that labor should be included in this restructuring 

of the federal government"! If so, how do you intend to ensure their participation in 

this process? 

Dr. Pon (questions 1-2): I look forward to working with employee representatives in accordance 

with Federal sector labor law on issues of importance to the civil service. I will negotiate with 

OPM's local unions consistent with the law. 

Page 20 of 20 
109 

GOVERNMENT MANAGERS COALITION 

• FAAMA FMA NCSSMA 

September 22, 2017 

The Honorable Ron Johnson, Chairman 

The Honorable Claire McCaskill, Ranking Member 

United States Senate 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee 

340 Dirksen Senate Ot1icc Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member McCaskill: 

PMA SEA • 

On behalf of the tivc major federal sector executive and management professional associations 

comprising the Government Managers Coalition (GMC), we write to express our support for Jeff 

Tien Han Pon, President Trump's nominee to be Director of the Otlicc of Personnel 

Management (OPM). 

The GMC collectively represents the interests of over 200,000 supervisors, managers, and 

executives throughout the federal government. Our mission is to promote good government 

initiatives that foster effectiveness and efticicncy throughout the federal government. Certainly, 

a key component to good governance is ensuring key leadership roles are filled by skilled 

candidates. 

To that end, OPM, the agency tasked with overseeing the federal civil service, has been without 

a Senate-confirmed Director for more than two years. While the agency has certainly undertaken 

good work in the interim, operating without a clearly established direction should not become the 

standard state of affairs, particularly for such an integral component of the federal workforce. 

Mr. Pon has the background necessary to step in and provide crucial guidance to the agency and 

to federal workers. Mr. Pon 's federal government experience, background as a human resources 

expert, tenure as Chief Human Capital OtTicer at the Department of Energy and the Deputy 

Director of eGovcrnmcnt at OPM, promise a broad and relevant skill-set ideal for filling this 

crucial government role. 

If you have any questions, please feel tree to contact Ben Carnes with the Professional Managers 

Association at bcarnes@shawbransford.com or (202) 463-8400. 

Sincerely, 

ANDY TAYLOR 

President 

FAA Managers Association 

President 

federal Managers Association 
110 

GOVERNMENT MANAGERS COALITION 

• FAAMA 

THOMAS R. 

Executive Director 

FMA 

Professional Managers Association 

BILL VALDEZ 

President 

Senior Executives Association 

NCSSMA PMA SEA • 

-:C:c:cl-::-::ll::-:U:::::Sc=T:-:0--:P-cHc::E:::;:R::-::::Dc::E:::l::::.Z:-:-LER ----

President 

National Council of Social Security 

Management Associations 
111 

.· .. ··. I SENIOR 

; : EXECUTIVES *I* ASSOCIATION 

The voice of career federal executives since 1980 

77 K Street N.E., Suite 2600 • Washington, D.C. 20002 • 202.971.3300 • seniore)(ecs.org 

September 18, 2017 

The Honorable Ron Johnson, Chairman 

The Honorable Claire McCaskill, Ranking Member 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

Washington, D.C. 20510 

Dear Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member McCaskill, and Members of the Committee: 

On behalf of the Senior Executives Association (SEA)- which represents the interests of career federal 

executives in the Senior Executive Service (SES), and those in Senior Level (SL), Scientific and 

Professional (ST), and equivalent positions I write to convey our strong support for the nomination of 

Dr. JeffTien Han Ponto be the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). 

While serving at the Department of Energy, I had the privilege of working with Jeff on a project he 

initiated to improve human capital processes at DOE. The thought leadership he brought to that project 

is indicative of the skills and experience he will bring to his new role at OPM. Jeffs expertise in human 

capital management has only grown since I worked with him in government, as evidenced by senior 

roles with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Futures Inc., and Booz Allen Hamilton. 

OPM has not had a Senate-confirmed Director since July 10, 2015. I am confident that Jeff will bring the 

necessary real-world and agency experience to OPM that will help transform Federal government 

human capital practices and processes, and I urge the Committee and the Senate to quickly act upon his 

nomination. 

Thank you for your consideration of SEA's perspective. Please have your staff contact SEA Executive 

Director Jason Briefel (yrie[d@seniorexecs.QLg; 202-971-3300) for further information. 

Sincerely, 

Bill Valdez 

President 

Senior Executives Association 

CC: Members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
112 

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL RIGAS 

Nominee to Serve As 

Deputy Director 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management 

before the 

UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

October 18, 2017 

Thank you Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member McCaskill, and Members of the committee for 

the opportunity to appear before you here today. It is an honor to be nominated to be Deputy 

Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and I would like to thank 

President Trump for the opportunity to serve. 

I would also like to take a moment to thank my wife Laura, my parents John and Zoe Rigas, my 

siblings and other family and friends who have supported me throughout my life. It is from my 

parents that my siblings and I were taught the importance of public service as a way to give back 

to this great country to which they immigrated. My father spent over twenty-five years as a 

public school teacher, and among the seven children in our family: five arc in public service 

today. 

I would also like to thank the Chairman, and Committee staff, who took the time to meet with me 

during this process and I look forward to working with you, and with the Members of this 

Committee, if confirmed. I would also like to thank Acting Director McGettigan for being here 

today and for her support during this process. 

I am grateful to be before you today to be considered for a position where I would have the 

opportunity to serve Federal employees and the American public. I know from my own 

experience at the state and Federal government levels, the commitment and dedication of those 

that serve their country. 

Page 1 of 3 
113 

I hope to bring my over twenty years of management and leadership experience to bear on the 

challenges facing OPM today. If confirmed, I will work with agency leadership and staff to 

further OPM's ability to execute its mission of recruiting, retaining and supporting the Federal 

workforce in the most efficient and effective way possible. 

OPM has faced a number of challenges over recent years. If confirmed, I look forward to rolling 

up my sleeves and working to address the pressing issues the agency faces. In particular, if 

confirmed, I hope to focus on building on the work already undertaken to improve the 

information technology (IT) posture of the agency and restore the confidence of the public in the 

agency's ability to safeguard federal employee data. 

There are also opportunities at OPM to modernize how the agency's work is carried out, and 

how it can support federal employees, retirees, and those seeking federal employment. In my 

previous experiences in the public and private sectors I have implemented reforms, streamlined 

operations, and reduced the amount of time it takes to process benefits. These arc the types of 

experiences I would like to bring to the role of Deputy Director, if confirmed. 

In each of my previous professional leadership roles, I believe I left those organizations in a 

better position than I found them. I have endeavored to make a positive and meaningful impact, 

both in the public and private sectors, from improving customer service to saving taxpayer 

dollars. 

Each of these successes was possible because of the dedicated men and women I have had the 

privilege of serving with, who worked together as a team, to achieve a shared vision of a better 

workplace for our organization and better service for our customers and taxpayers. 

It would be an honor to serve at the Office of Personnel Management, if confirmed, and to serve 

those who seek a career in public service, those currently serving, and those who have retired 

from federal service. 

Page 2 of 3 
114 

I want to thank the Committee for considering my nomination and I look forward to answering 

any questions you may have. 

Page 3 of 3 
115 

HSGAC BIOGRAPHICAL QUESTIONS FOR 

EXECUTIVE NOMINEES REDACTED 

1. Basic Biographical Information 

Please provide the following information. 

LosiNmire --,-,-

Rigas 
116 

l--------'--·-----'------·-··--__l_··-······'-----L·---·---'--------l 

2 
117 

2. 

List all post-secondary schools attended, 
118 

3. Eniployrileiit 

(A) List ail of yaur emp~oyment 11-Ctlvitie~, lnduding unemployment ant:! self~emp]oym~nt. 

if the cmp]dylllCllt activity WaS military duty, Jist SCparf[tc'cmpfoyJ;lleDf activity period~ to 

show eacii chartge•ofin'ilitacy duty station. Do not list employment h·efor~.your 18th 

birthday·unless to prov.ide a: minimum of two yeats .. of'employlilcnt histoty. 

fi'ate 

Emrlloyment; 

Niiitte;of:i'c'<iiit ·. i.occll'tlgw 

Date .. Ended 

i .Eilii:!Iilvrnent (i)loqifl(y~·arl 

t. ·:,;;iitolov~i-1 (Ci,tya;n!l 'Began: .(chcck'boxif 

as~lg\ieii Dritv si~re; (month/yen<) · esti!nate) 

l e. :J'iidenifi::o~ttacior, Non· 

siiilon · ,only)·· ('ch~cR ,l;iox'.if: (.check 

c.it!nwte) 'tp~~ef{tj;_bOX 

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if:.sJill 

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j Employment .foJmdatio'n Dii~ctor, on; D.C. i\lnrl011 Apr.201~· 

Coalition . 

. Rdations 

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\Employment :Massachusetts Director MA AprillOlO :J.:iu101l 

t, Self.Employmertt F.ederat. Pr09urement Presii:lenr .&: washing[ .E>t Est': 

Advisors, LLC I:; EO on;D,C ... Apri009, 'q At1_•·ll_l01~ 

and 

B·oston1" 

MA 

i Unemployment Washingt !Nt Est. 

on D.C. J.i~~)009 ~\P~l~~~ 

:Federal E'ilployment General Services· .Associate Washing! E3t ---E~ 

f Adinfnisiration Adininistrai6r ·oo.D:C. mc.ltJOq Q Jiln2009 

'Unemployment Was)1ingt ·E~t Est 

orrD,C, .• July)Dol D~C"l9~ 

i Non·G!?verwn.¢n:t Mellon Financial Evei·ett; ESt Est i Employment Cqrporation MA j\Iny~ooo ~icne·160~ 

\ Non·Gtivemment J3r!)wn Brpthers. Bostpnl. E~t E!t 

: Efilp)oymerit Harriman·& Co: .MA M<~r.t'JrJ7 ~l.ar10\1!l 

Non-Government OCS of AmeriCa Boston, Est l::H 

Employment MA. .j'onl!'l% Avr·I9D1 

4 
119 

Non-Government 

Employment 

United Asset 

Management 

(B) List any advisory, consultative, honorary or other part-time service or positions with 

federal, state, or local governments, not listed elsewhere. 

'' ·: ' 

Nrtitlc<ifGov.eininent• · · Enlit\1' 

NIA 

Dnle Set~\' fee ... ·: piittiScrviee}Jndcd J~cgan ... . .(nJ9n!hlye~rl ( ch~cJ<.box 

, ! .· (nuintlV~.~~i) .· .ifc•tlt)lnt~)!chec~ 

(checkbQX if ·. ···"preserit'' box ·ifsWI' ' Cstimatdl , S~rving) 

Est 

Est 

Esl 

4. Potential Conflict oflnterest 

Est Present 

~;s1 l)1.r.scnt 

l1 

Est Present 

(A) Describe any business relationship, dealing or financial transaction which you have had 

during the last 10 years, whether for yourself, on behalf of a client, or acting as an agent, 

that could in :my way constitute or result in a possible contlict of interest in the position to 

which you have been nominated. N/A 

(B) Describe any activity during the past 10 years in which you have engaged for the 

purpose of directly or indirectly influencing the passage, defeat or modification of any 

legislation or affecting the administration or execution oflaw or public policy, other than 

while in a federal government capacity. 

Between 2011 nnd 2015 I worked for the Heritage Foundation, a non-profit research institution, a 

think tank, which publishes research on public policy and legislation. 

5. Honors and Awards 

List all scholarships, fellowships, honorary degrees, civilian service citations, military 

medals, academic or professional honors, honorary society memberships and any other 

special recognition for outstanding service or achievement. 

N/A 

6. Memberships 

5 
120 

List-all memberships thlif you have h¢ld.hl profession.al, soc~al,. business, fratei'Dal, 

scholarly, civ1c, or charitable organizations in the iast Hi years. · 

N/A . 

Unles·s relevant to you!" nomiltation, yo.u do NOT need toiitclurt~ mcmber:~hip~ ~n. . 

~lta.:rjtableo!"g11nizations available. to the publitl.as·a result of a tax deductible donation of 

$1;000 Ol" ies.~, Parent-Teachcl" Associutions or other organizations connected·'I;1J.scb.oob 

attended by yo1,1r children, athletk clubs .oi: teams, a~,ttomobile support organizatiom (such 

as AAA), diS'ct:)unts clnQs. (such as Groupori oi' Sam's Club), or affinity 

membersitips/~onsumcr clubs (such as!requent flyer memberships), · 

Dafes·o'r,Y~u~:MeJiihcri.ill!i ,Wou m~r·•JiJ>r~>'lmat~·)· · · ! P<iini: of Pine~ Y-acht Club 

! 

20 15.present 

j Harvar<J·Clu.b <lfBOl1Jol1 2008-2010' {est) memller 

i 

7 •. Political Activity 

(A) Have you eyer been a ·c~Jnrl\datefor .or bee!!. elected Qf appointed to a politi!:!il office? 

YES. . 

· !E!~ttediA'~polnted/ 

. ,,,, Ciirididat~·:Oiiivc:,:> .. 

! I:{eputy Associate Admlnlstr~tor, General Appointe;J 

~·~erv.ioes Administration · 

1 Associi!le Adminisfuatot, General SerVices .Appointed 

i Adtnh:tiSiration 

l Chief of Staff, Massachusettsi::Jep!UimeJJt.of Appoinied 

: Veter~ns' Ser·v~ces. 

Sept'2008'-Jan 

2oo9 

Apr 2015 • J:>resent 

Teriil orSeh>Jce 

i (if¥~ji!kii,lll~}' . 

(B) Ust any offices heid in or services rendere~ to .a: political party !W election cowmltiee 

ilur:ing. the last ten years· tliafyou have not lis.ted 'elsewhere .. 

6 
121 

Phone Banking 

(C) Itemize all individual political contributions of $200 more that you have made in the 

past five years to any b1dlvidual, campaign organization, political party, po!itkal action 

committee, or similar entily. Please list each individual contribution and not the total 

amount contributed to the person or entity during the year. 

7 
122 

Charles D. Baker '$5Q(\ 

MittR·omney $1000 2012 

8. Publications and Speeches 

ltA) List the titles, pui:Yiis}ters -a:nd dates of book~, artich~s, r~potits or other published ! rrtaterials that you have writteJ:l; including_l!r'ticles pq_blisb,ed on theTnternet. Please provide 

ithe Corturtittcewith coples o'J"a!Uisted publications. Itt lieu of)latd c!Jp'ies,-electronic copies ! ~all be p1·ovided via e-mail dr other digitalformnt. 

(B) List any foril>atspeechcs you !)ave delivered during the last five ycntnind provide tbll. 

Committee 'Yifh copies of.thtise speeclics• relevant-to the positi-on for which you have been 

nominated. Includ.e any testimony to Congress or ail,y other legislative ot·administrative 

body. These items •Can be provided eleetronically via e:-mail or othet• digital fo.rinat. 

N!A 

(C) List. all spe~c'hes and testimony you have delivered in the past J:en yeai·s, exceptfor 

those the text of w!ficli you ru:e rn'ilviding to tl\c Committee. 

Tin~·- ...... ·· .... ·;, 

Testimony byMichael.Rigas; GSA 

Deputy Associate Administrator of, 

Small.Erusines~'l)tlljzatiqn at 

:hearing ''Acqess To Federal 

US Senate Committee 011 Smalt 

Business· and· En~epi:e.neurshlp 

.8 

·Datefs) O'fSpeccli 

October29;-2007 
123 

Contracts;. How To Lew.l The 

Playing Fl¢J<\" 

Testimony by Michael Rigas, GSA 

Deputy Asso'ciate Administrator of 

·Small Busiriess'Utilir.ation ·at 

hearing,"Doinlt Business·\vith ·the 

Government: tb.e Record and Goals 

·for Smlil(, Minority, and 

Disadvantaged Busiil'esses" 

The: Subcommiitee On Economic March 6,. 2008 

Developmerit, Public Buildings And 

Emeqjency,. U.S. Hmise.Of 

Representitive·s 

9. Criminal History 

Since (arid including)your 181

h .liil"(:bday, has apy of the followi1,1g bappen,d? 

Have. you. b·c(m.iSsued a s.ummbns; citation, of ticketto appear in coun ih ·a crirninal.proceeding agaiitst you? 

(Exclude. c.itatiohs involving traftk.irlfuictioris where the fine was less than $300 and did not include alcohol or 

drugs.) YES 

Have: you been .arreste!l by any police officer, she(iff, marshal o.rany otheHyp~ ofJ(lw en'rorcemcnt official? NO . . 

.• Have yo.u been ch.atge<;l, con.vjcted,or.sentensed of a cdine;in any. court? r. r.ec.cived a tlc!tet in the. mail, 

appeared in cmirt:·on tpe aatc spetified,•wlrcre the·"ha.rgcs were d!sJn'!Ssed. 

Rave you been·<>r ·are )"ou ;ctU1'erttlY.<!n probatinn·oq'>aro!e?. Nci. . 

.&.rli you cu['rently ontri~Lot .awaiting atria ron cr111iiMl·cbarges1 

NO 

To .your knowledge, 'llave you ever been :the subject o·r target .or:;, federal; state:u.r'local cririiimil investigation? 

NO 

If the answer to ap.y of the quc&ti<ms above is yes, please answer the questions below for 

each crfrnillal event (citation, arrest, investigation, etc,). If the event' was an iltvesflgation; 

where. the question bci0w ask;sfor information about the offen:S~t pleas~ offer .in:fol'maticin 

about the offense under investigl\tion (if known),. · 

A) o·atc of offense: Dec 28, 2QOO 

a, Is this aJl.estimate.(Yes/No); NO 

B} Description o~tbe specific na[ure·ofthe offepse: 

I r~odv.ed a dt~tion 'ilrthe mail for.·hnvlng ah ·"mcgistel'ed and uninsured motor vehicle parl<ed·on the 

street;·for a.vchi.cle with au. invalid registration, n·nit tor not.subinittlng ldentificntio·n,.J n·ppearcd ·in court 

on the. date ~peclfied; ·wfte,-c the charges· were di.s'mi:Ssect. . 

C) Did the offense involve any o.fthe foHowing? 

9 
124 

!) .Domestjc.yiolencc M·a crime o:h1otente·{~pc]r as batte.ry·or a~snvit) ngainst·yovr.qmld, .dependent •. 

·~ohabitant,spou~e,. fo!Jl)~•: spo.upe, or som~Qne·wii~. whom.yon:share a·cf!ild.in:connnon: No 

2:) Firea1Jl)s,0rexplosives: No. 

3) Al~ohol or dn~gs: No 

D) Locntion·where (he·oifen$e~.occurred' (city,.county, ~tate,, zip cQde;country): 

Boston, Suffo.lk ¢ounty,.MA 02!30·, U:SA 

E) Were you arrested,.sunimoned, citetl or diilyi>u:recei\lt·a tiCkeno appear aS"a result ·ofthis.offense.byany 

pollee officer.,.sheriff, marshar.nr anyothertyp·e 'oflaw·.enforcerhent •offioW:· Yes - I rccciv.c.d a trcket.in 

the mail; appeared !n court on the date•speclficd, where the chai:ges·Werc'dismissed. 

l) Naril" ofihe law enforceineht.ageocy tliaUirrestedlcite.d/summoned you: 

B~ston F.'oUce . 

2i bocaiion of the law enforceincni ag¢ncy (city,.tounty; state,: zip ·code; couhny): 

B6ston; Suffolk County, MA 02130; USA · · 

:F) As a:re~ultofthis offense wero'yotl charged, convicfed;:cuirenti,Y awaiting trial, and!or'ordered,to .. appear itt 

.court. in a.ctiminal proceedingaga,.ihst you: Yes-'I received a ilcket.in .lhc·rnnil,·np[!cnrcd ln ·court on the 

·date ~pecillcd·, where the chai'ges were dismissed. 

J) lf yes, provide llie ·name of the court and thdocation l:if.tlie.C'mirt ( dity, county, stilte,.:ii[!· code, 

· countrjr): ·west Roxbury :Oistrtd Court. Boston, Suffolk Courity1 MA 02130 . . 

2) lf yes, provide a!J·the charges .broughtagainstyou for ihis:offense,. and the outcome· of each cnarged 

offense.(such as·foviid gui!t)r, found n6t-guilty,:c!iarge dropped· or "rioile.pros;" et¢.). lfyoiJ \vere fuun<l 

~uiit)rof Q~ pleaded guilty tci i.:Jesser offense, list separately both the original·chargc ana' the, lesser 

o.tf~ose: · 

1 rece'ived a·riltijtion in ·tile. mail for h~"lng an unregistered nn4 unfnsurcd mot0r yehlcl~ parked 

on the stl'e"~t, for a vchiciC:·wlth on invalid reglstration,.and for n?! submitti'ng:i<}entiricatlon. ·r 

appeared in cou·rt'OD the date specjfied, wher~ ~1.1 charges >vere·d'ismisse.<l. 

·3) Ifno,provfde explanat)oh:. 

G) Wero:you.sentented:·as a resu'!t. ofthis.offu.nse: No 

H) Pcavide:a ~escdption. 0fthe sentence; N/A 

I) Were you·.semenqed·to iinprisonment for a tenn e~ceed.ing one. year: No 

J) Were you incarcerated as a re'S,Ult ofth~fse(l\ence fonrot le., than .one, year: N~ 

K) ffth~ Gbnvictiornesulteo.in imprisonment, ProY:ide .t&e date.>Jhat you •l!tual.ly.were incarcerated: NIA 

L) Jfconvietidh resulte~ in probatloq or paro'lc, provide the. dates ofpmbatio11or parole: N/A 

M) Are you currently on tria!', awaiting .a.n:ia!,orawaiting·~en.tencing 9n criniinal charges for lliis.pffelise; No 

N) P\·pviiic explanatiol): NIA 

10 
125 

10. Civil Litigation and Administrative or Legislative Proceedings 

(A) Since (and including) your 18th birthday, have you been a party to any public record 

civil court action or administrative or legislative proceeding of any kind that resulted in (1) 

a finding of wrongdoing against you, or (2) a settlement agreement for you, or some other 

person or entity, to make a payment to settle allegations against you, or for you to take, or 

refrain from taking, some action. Do NOT include small claims proceedings. 

Nntu~c bfA~tion/Piio~ceding R:esullll of 

1\:ctiolilProcccd'iiig 

------+-----------+----------------1------

(B) In addition to those listed above, have you or any business of which you were an officer, 

director or owner ever been involved as a party of interest in any administrative agency 

proceeding or civil litigation? Please identify and provide details for any proceedings or 

civil litigation that involve actions taken or omitted by you, or alleged to have been taken or 

omitted by you, while serving in your official capacity. 

f--------·l-------l----·------+----------1---------l 

(C) For responses to the previous question, please identify and provide details for any 

proceedings or civil litigation that involve actions taken or omitted by you, or alleged to 

have been tal<en or omitted by you, while serving in your official capacity. 

N/A 

11. Breach of Professional Ethics 

11 
126 

H!!·vc y!lu evt\i'.IJcci:~ d\sllipline.4 -~~f cited 'for a ·brejlch of ethics or unptofcssionat' cdnduct 

o·r been tlte subje~t of a compiaint to, liny'·cour.t,::ll.dniini$traiive:·!\genc:y., :pr:ofes.s.lon:,il 

ia~:soc.illt~O~I,· diis~:ip:l:il.la):)' !)OJ:jlmitt~;e; o.r citb~; p_r.pfes$ional group~ Exclude·case~ and 

lor·o·ceellin2S ntready li~tcd. NO 

Hav~you e:v.e:r been fired from a job, quit a !ob'afte:r. being told •you wo.uld.beJir.ed, l~ft 

l!Ymutt~al agreementfollowi!lg ch11rges Ar a!Jllglltiilns of'JIIisco'uq,u~t, left a jof> ,by 

ng~·ecJUe~f fol}'owing.notj.c'e of nnslitisfactory.perfortnallc~, or received a written 

1w~:nu•<!!. beeiMfficiady-reprimantl.eci, su~p:en:ded, or ~is.ciplined f(u~ m1sc.ond:ucUD. the 

\m>rltP.la.c· e, such !I.S -v~o'Iatio11 9;f'a -.~c~:i:ity_ policy?-· · · 

12. Tax Compliance 

j(This.Jpfo.rmation will nut be published in the r.ecord :of the:'hea:rin~ on· yow· noniination, 

jl:ill.t if "'ilL J,e ·n.tained ill the Coili!l:iittee's files· and 'will be ~wailable.for publk insp~otion~) 

REDACTED 
127 

13. Lobbying· 

~rr the.plisf ten ;Y.~ars? bav:-.·. :you ~llgistercd as:a )fj~b_yist?. If so, pleaSidudicate tb~ stl(~c, 

feilel'al, o.r .loc.al bod.I.es'\V.lth V\' lucb yon have regJstered. (e.g., House, Senate, Cahformn 

lsecretaey of Sta.te), NO 

14. Outside Positions 

)0 See . .OGE Form 278, (If; for your J.i.omination,_you haye eompleted:an OO:E Fqrm 178 

p:!]~ecut\ve Bnmch l'ersorinel'Public Financial DisClosure Report! you. may check the bo;>C:het'e tq 

~complete tbis,~ection anq tberi pi'OGeed to the I)eitt sectiOh:) 

For the prcceding.te!l citl~Jndar ycat~ .. imd the current calendai· year1 report any.positio:ns 

h~ld, Wlletuer. comper~~ated ·o.r J}.ot. J.>o~iti<ii!s i:Uclutie but are iiqt li¢ited to 'those·of an 

offic.er., dii·ector, tr·t!stee, generl)l partner,,.pn:wriritor, reprcserttntive;.emp,loyee, or· 

nons.ultant of.any..corporatii;ln, firw; patin.er~hip, or .o~ljex l)u&in~ss enterprise or any ~on,; 

profit otganizati'on· or e.ducati'onallnstitution. Exciudc'posi~i_on~ ·with :religious., so~ial,. 

Eratel'nal, or·politlcnl entit'ies ·and··those solely of liD hon!mny nature. N./.A 

15. Agreements or Atrangements 

f 0. Eee OGE Form:21iJ. 01', tb.r yo11r norpi/lf!.tion, y9u have Q9\!1Pl~ted an.OGE F.orm278 

i Executive .BranchcPer-so)10el Public Finapdal Displqsur~·.Rqp rt, you .may qhec)c. the bo/C ber~ tq 

i complete'.this ·section arid then proce.ed to fue·next .section. j 
128 

As of the date of filing your OGE Form 278, report your agt·eemellts or arrangements for: 

(lycontirtuing participation in an employee benefit plan (e.g. pension, 401k, deferred 

compensation); (2) continuation of paym~nt by a former employer (including severance 

payments); (3) leaves of absence; Rnd (4) future employment. 

Provide ·informatiotl regarding any agreements or arrangements you have concerning (1) 

future employment; (2) a leave of absence during you'r period of Government service; (3) 

continulltion of payments by a former employer other than the United States Government; 

and (4) continuing participation in an employee welfare or benefit plan maintained by a 

former employer other than United States Government retirement benefits. 

16. Additional Financial Data 

All information requested under this heading must be provided for yourself, your spouse, 

and your dependents. (This inform!ltion will not b.e published in tbc record of tb.e hearing 

on your nomination, but it will be retained in the Committee's files and will be available for 

public inspection.) 

REDACTED 
REDACTED 

SIGNATURE AND DATE 

I hereby state that.! ha:ve read the foregoing s·t~temen~ on Biogr?phi~al and Financili.~ Ip.for111a;tion and that the in

jJD:iviaed therein is,·to the best of my krunvf~dge! cnrr.ent; accn~ate, !!,Ud !;.()lllplet~ 

~~ 

7~/17 

This ~Oth day of Jqne, .2iJ17 

2.2 
130 

UNITED STATES OFFICE OF 

GOVERNMENT ETHICS 

* 

The Honorable Ron Johnson 

Chairman 

Committee on Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

Dear Mr. Chairman: 

REDACTED 

June 29, 2017 

In accordance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, I enclose a copy of the 

1inancia! disclosure report filed by Michael John Rigas, who has been nominated by 

President Trump for the position of Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management 

We have reviewed the report and have obtained advice from the agency concerning any 

possihle conflict in light of its functions and the nominee's proposed duties. Also enclosed is an 

ethics agreement outlining the actions that the nominee will undertake to avoid conflicts of 

interest. Unless a date for compliance is indicated in lhe ethics agreement, the nominee must 

fully comply within three months of confirmation with any action specilicd in the ethics 

agreement. 

Based thereon, we believe that this nominee is in compliance with applicable laws and 

regulations governing connicts of interest. 

Enclosures REDACTEIJ 

Sincerely, 

David J. Apol 

General Counsel 

·--"---·-------~----· * * * * 1201 NEW VORl( AVE NW·SUJTE SOO·WA.SHJNGTON DC•20005 
131 

Theodore M. Cooperstein 

General Counsel and 

· Designated Agency Ethics Official 

Office of Personnel Manageme11t 

1900 ESt., NW 

Washington, DC 20415 

Dear Mr. Cooperstein: 

JUN 2 7 20t7 

The purpose of this letter)~ to describe the steps that I will take to mroid any aGtual or 

apparent conflict of interest in the event that I am confirmed for the posxtion of Deputy Director 

ofthl:) Office of Personnel Management. 

As required by 18 U.S.G. § 208(a), I will not participate personally ffild substantially in 

any partic1llm·matter in which I know that I have a financial mterest directly and predictably 

affected by the matter, or in wluch 1 know that a person whose interests are imputed to me has a 

financial interest directly and predictably affected by the matter, unless I first obtain a written 

waiver, pursUlllltto 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(l), or qualify for a regulatory exemption, pursuant to 

18 U.S. C. § 208(b)(2). I understand that the bJterests of the following pe1·sons are imputed to 

me: any spouse o1· minor child of mine; any general pmtner of a partnership in which I arn a 

limited or general partner; any organization in which I serve as officer, ·director, tl'Ustefl, general 

partner or employee; and any person or organization with which I l)l'rl negotiating or have an 

arrangement concerning prospective employment. 

Upon confhmation, I will resign from my position 'With the Massachusetts Depaitment of 

Veterans' Services. For 11 pruiod of one year aftct my resignation, 1 will not participate 

personally and substantially in any pruticular mutter involving specific parties in which I !mow the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a party o1· represents a pmiy, unless I am fttst authorized 

tq participate, pUl'suunt to 5 C.P.R. § 2635.502(d). 

If I hmre a managed a~count or otherwise use the services of An investment professional 

during my appointment, I will ensure that the account manager or investment pl'ofessional. 

o blains my prior approval on a case-by-case basis for the pul'chase of any assets other than cash, 

cash equivalents, investme,nt funds that qualify for the exemption at 5 C.F.R. § 2640.201(11), 

obligations of the United States, or municipal bonds. 

I 1mderstand that as· an appointee I will be required to sign the Ethics Pledge (Exec. Order 

No. ~3770) and that I will be bmmd by the requirements and restrictions therein in addition to the 

commitments I have made in this ethics agreement. 

I will meet in persoll wlth you dUl'ing the first week of my. service in the position of 

Deputy Director in order to complete the ibitial ethics briefing !'equired umlor 5 C.F.R. 

~ 2638.305. Within 90 days of lny confirmation, I will document my compliance with this ethics 
132 

agreement by notifying you in writing when I have completed the steps described in this·ethics 

agreemellt. 

I have been advised that this ethics agreement will be po~ted publicly, cm~sisteut wlth 

5 U.S. C. § 552, on the website of the U.S. Office of Goverum(lnt Ethics with ethics agreements 

of other Presidential nommees who file public financial disclosm·e reports. 

Sincerely, 

Michael 

!JI44J2~ John Rigas 
133 

U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

Pre-hearing Questionnaire 

For the Nomination of Michael Rigas to be 

Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management 

I. Nomination Process and Conflicts of Interest 

1. Did the President give you specific reasons why you were nominated to be the next Deputy 

Director of the Office ofPersmmel Management (OPM), and if so, what were they? 

No. 

2. Were any conditions, expressed or implied, attached to your nomination? If so, please 

explain. 

No. 

3. Have you made aJlY commitments with respect to the policies and principles you will attempt 

to implement as Deputy Director? If so, what are they, and to whom were the commitments 

made? 

No. 

4. Are you aware of any business relationship, dealing, or financial transaction that could result 

in a possible conflict of interest for you or the appearance of a conflict of interest? If so, 

please explain what procedures you will use to recuse yourself or otherwise address the 

conflict. And if you will recuse yourself, explain how you will ensure your responsibilities 

are not affected by your recusal. 

No. 

II. Dacl{ground of the Nominee 

5. What specific background, experience, and attributes qualify you to be Deputy Director? 

I have over 20 years professional experience in the private, public aml non-profit 

sectors. My private sector experience includes managing and turning around large 

organizations. I have also served as an appointee in the General Services 

Administration' for President George W. Dush, where I helped improve the department 

scorecard from "red" to "gt·een" for the Office of Small Business Utilization. 

Additionally, I have public policy experience worlting for The Heritage ~Foundation and 

an educational bacl<ground in economics, international trade and public administration 

from The Harvard Kennedy School and Boston University. 

6. I' lease describe: 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 1 
134 

a. Your leadership and management style. 

I would describe my Ieadcrsllip and management style as collaborative. I believe 

it is important for leadership within an organization to communicate tile goals 

and priorities clearly to management and staff so they understand how they can 

contribute to helping the agency meet its objectives. I believe in an interactive 

process with management tllat begins witii one on one meetings with your direct 

reports to understand what each manager's challenges and needs are, wllat 

agency leadership can do to support them, and wllat feedback they have and 

how they view their role in helping to achieve agency objectives. Once we have 

established a mutual understanding of our goals and objectives, I provide a 

fairly wide latitude to managers to achieve those objectives. I then have regula1· 

checl{-ins witii managers to assess how we arc progressing and provide 

additional guidance and advice as necessary to ensure we are on track to meet 

our objectives. 

b. Your experience managing personnel. 

I have had experience managing personnel in my caree1· since 1998, in eluding 

managing direct line staff, supervisors and managers in the private sector, 

having regional directors as dotted line reports around the country, as I did in 

my previous Federal service at GSA, and managing senior agency managers in 

my most recent role at the Massachusetts Department of Veterans' Services. 

c. What is the largest number of people that have worked under you? 

At the Massachusetts Department of Veterans' services I oversaw over 700 staff, 

including a senior management team of 8 senior managers. In my role as 

Associate Administrator at GSA, I had dotted line oversight over the regional 

small business directors in each of the l1 GSA 1·egions, in addition to overseeing 

small business policy for tile entire agency of about 12,000 personnel, and 

through the contract vehicles promulgated by GSA with our office's input, 

impacting the procurement process for all Federal agencies. 

7. In your previous roles at the General Services Administration, Massachusetts Depatiment of 

Veterans' Services, and the Heritage Fmmdation, how have you managed underpcrfonning 

employees? 

I believe it is important as a manager to clearly communicate expectations to employees 

and direct reports. When I have an employee that is underperforming, my first step is 

to have a conversation with them to see if they arc having any issues, or if they don't 

understand what and how they should be carrying out the duties and responsibilities of 

their job. [ would 1·eview their job description to ensure it is up to date aud to make 

sure that is not contributing to the problem by being unclear or out of date. I would 

have a conversation with them about what acceptable performance looks like in their 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 2 
135 

role and how and where their current performance falls short of that. Where 

appropriate, I would offer additional training. If that collaborative process is not 

successful, I would move to the progressive discipline process in place for our 

organization. 

8. Please describe any experience you have related to cybersecurity, infmmation security 

management, and technology modernization? 

In my most recent t·ole as Chief of Stati at the Massachusetts Department of Veterans' 

Services, I supervised our Director of Operations and Director of Data Analysis and 

Program Integrity who also had responsibility for IT security for the agency. Each year 

our agency had to certify that we met IT security standards. In this role, I have also 

overseen the modernization and upgrade of our benefits processing system for annuities 

as well as the ongoing improvements to our other IT systems. In my prior role at the 

GSA, I worked with our acquisition centers to promote our contract vehicles such as 

the GSA Schedule 70 and government-wide Acquisition Contracts such as the VETS 

GWAC which provided our Federal partners at agencies all across the country with 

state of the art technology solutions. 

9. Please describe any experience you have related to acquisitions, contract management, and 

the development of requirements, and specifically with regards to acquiring technology and 

technology services. 

In my most recent role as Chief of Staff at the Massachusetts Department of Veterans' 

Services, I supervised the Director of Operations, who oversaw the development of 

requirements for our systems and technology upgrades undertaken by our agency. In 

my prior llederal service, I served at the General Services Administration, the premier 

procurement agency of the Federal Government which oversees approximately $66 

billion in federal procurements, including a substantial amount of IT services. While at 

GSA, I worl{ed with the agency acquisition centers to promote our government-wide 

Acquisition Contracts and GSA Schedules which provided technology services for 

Fede1·al agencies. 

III. Role of the Deputy Director of OPM 

10. What do you consider to be the mission of OPM, and what would you consider to be your 

role and responsibilities if contitmed as the Deputy Director? 

OPM's 1·ole is to recruit, retain and support a best in class workforce for the American 

people. I view its mission as supporting Federal agencies with their human capital 

needs as well as striving to provide Federal employees with competitive pay, benefits 

and retirement to attract the best talent to serve our country and carry out the people's 

business. My role, if eonfii·med, would be to support the Director in achieving his 

priorities for the agency. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 3 
136 

11. Are there any activities currently in OPM's mission that you think would be appropriately 

located elsewhere in the federal government? Please explain. 

No. 

12. What do you anticipate will be your greatest challenges as OPM Deputy Director, and what 

will be your top priorities? What do you hope to accomplish during your tenure? 

I believe that working to restore the confidence the public has in the agency to be able 

to keep Federal employee data secure and addressing the High Risk management 

wealmesses that have been identified by the Government Accountability Office in its 

annual High-Risk report would be my top priorities, if confirmed. During my tenure, I 

will support the agency efforts to continue making improvements in these and other 

areas. 

IV. Policy Questions 

Management 

13. What do you believe are the greatest personnel management challenges in the federal 

government, and as OPM Deputy Director, what would you do to address them? 

The biggest challenge I believe OPM has been facing is imp•·oving the Federal 

recruitment and hiring process. I understand OPM is making significant efforts to 

closing skills gaps within the Federal Government; however, I believe that continued 

efforts should be further developed. OPM must continue to work with agencies in order 

to identify challenges in the Federal hiring process and to modernize the Federal hiring 

experience for both applicants and hiring managers. 

14. What role do you believe the Deputy Director should play in addressing the High Risk 

management weaknesses that have been identified by the Govemment Accountability Office 

(GAO) in its annual High-Risk repoti? 

The Deputy Director of OPM should take an active l'ole in addressing the management 

challenges identified by the GAO in its annual High-Risk report. If confirmed, I will 

worl• to develop a strategy to address challenges identified by GAO by engaging with 

the CHCO Council and other stal•eholdet·s. I am committed to continuing the progress 

made to date and building upon the strengths that have been achieved. 

a. What do you believe is the biggest impediment to addressing strategic human capital 

and ensuring it is removed from the GAO high-tisk list? 

I believe the biggest impediment is to develop government-wide policies and 

practices while taking into account the needs of each agency and their specific 

missions. 

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b. What, if anything, would you do differently to address GAO's recommendations in 

the 2017 high-risk report? 

If confirmed, I would work with the key internal and external stakeholders to 

assess what progress has been made to date and develop an action plan on the 

way forward to address the recommendations. This would include collaboration 

with other agencies to identify best practices that can be shared across 

government. 

15. The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) is conducted on an annual basis and has 

become a regular tool for agencies and employees in identifying and addressing workplace 

issues. What is your opinion of the FEVS, and what, if any, changes do you think are needed 

to improve its effectiveness? 

I believe the FEVS is au important tool. The information gathered through FEVS 

allows management and leadership to better understand employees' perceptions of 

their workplace environment. 

16. What is your opinion of the cu!Tcnt state oflabor relations in the federal government and how 

will you approach labor relations issues, both government-wide and within OPM? 

As a leader I believe it is important to listen to and respect all points of view when 

formulating policy. 

17. OPM has management responsibility for several employee benefits programs, such as the 

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). Arc there any particular areas of 

concern or changes you would advocate for if confirmed as Deputy Director? 

FEHB is the largest employer-sponsored group health insurance program in the world, 

covering over 8 million lives. If confirmed, I will work with OPM's Healthcare and 

Insurance staff to develop policies that will help continue efforts so FEHBP will remain 

affordable for Federal employees and their families. 

18. The Inspector General has identified serious deficiencies in OPM's contract oversight, and in 

the 2016 Management Challenges report identified that work was still needed to improve 

internal contTols through corrective actions plans. What would you do to ensure that forward 

progress is made in this area? 

I am aware of the Inspector General's recommendations to OPM and tal{e them very 

seriously. Effective contract oversight and internal controls are important to agency 

efficiency of operations and am aware OPM bas alreltdy begnn taking action in this 

regard. 

19. As of August 2016, OPM had not met its strategic plan goal of adjudicating 90% of 

retirement cases within 60 days. How would you address claim processing delays? 

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Retirement Services (RS) must think of the whole customct· experience, something I 

know they've begun to do by focusing on improving responsiveness to customers who 

call, email or write to OPM. As Deputy Director, I will work with RS to continue 

existing efforts to provide annuit:mts with the level of customer service they deserve. 

Strategic Human Capital Planning 

20. What do you believe is the role ofOPM for government-wide strategic human capital 

management and policymaking? 

I believe OPM's role for government-wide strategic human capital management and 

policymaking is to lead and assist agencies with addressing their human capital needs. 

This includes engaging and partnering with stakeholders to identify, develop and share 

best practices across the government. OPM also has a significant role in aiding the 

President, and supporting his efforts to engage in legislative proposals and executive 

actions. 

21. What role do you believe OPM plays in helping agencies identify and address critical skills 

gaps, and how would you approach this issue? 

I believe that OPM should take a lead role in this effort. Through the CHCO Council, 

OPM can work with agencies to identify and address critical skills gaps, to include 

government-wide training opportunities and policies to assist with recruitment and 

retention. 

22. What do you believe is the appropriate role for service contracts in helping agencies meet 

their missions and what criteria do you believe federal agencies should use in evaluating the 

appropriate mix of contractors and federal employees? 

I believe service contracts can help agencies meet their missions when used 

appropriately. In some cases contractors cal) provide services at a reduced cost or in a 

faster timeframe, especially if there is a short-te1·m need o1· a specialized skill set 

required. 

23. Do you believe that Temporary and Term appointments arc an effective and appropriate 

method of addressing critical skills gaps in the federal workforce? 

Yes, I do. For both the l<'ederal Government and the employee, temporary and term 

appointments can be an effective way of addressing workforce needs and provides 

valuable information sharing for both pa1·ties. 

24. Do you believe the Senior Executive Service (SES) as cmrently structured is sufficient to 

meet the management needs of the federal government? Are there any changes or specific 

reforms that you would propose? 

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The Senior Executive Service (SES) is on the right path with many of their efforts to 

attract, retain, and hold accountable our best and brightest leaders. There are, 

however, still areas for improvement. It's important that the Federal Government be 

seen as a premier employer for top talent. Agencies must have the tools and pipelines in 

place to ensure a diversity of thought, backgrounds, and perspectives at·e being brought 

into the SES. 

a. If confirmed, how will you improve the oversight of SES bonuses and standardize the 

metrics used in determining which employees deserve such bonuses? 

OPM regulates SES performance appraisal requirements and procedures, approves 

and certifies SES appraisal systems, provides assistance to agencies on best pl"llctices, 

and issues rules related to use of appraisal results, e.g., governing pay, award and 

removal of executives. If confirmed, I will work to engage other stakeholders to provide 

accurate information on existing procedures and receive input on ways to improve 

efficiency. 

25. A 2016 GAO repmt fmmd that, in fiscal year 2013, roughly 99 percent of federal employees 

received performance appraisal ratings at or above "fully successful", with about 61 percent 

of employees receiving ratings of"outstanding" or "exceeds fully successful." 

a. Do you believe that OPM has provided sufficient guidance on performance 

evaluation to agencies? 

By statute, OPM is responsible for reviewing and approving agency 

performance appraisal systems based on adherence to law and OPM regulations. 

With respect to senior executive and senioi·level employees, OPM issued a 

template for the Basic SES Performance Appraisal System which drew from 

leading practices in Federal agencies and the private sector and was further 

infonncd by input from a working group of agency representatives. This 

template was intended to meet the SES performance management needs of 

Executive Brauch agencies and their SES members. For those agencies seeking 

access to higher level of pay for their senior executives and senior level 

employees, this template helps focus attention ou qualities in a performance 

system for which OPM willlool< when determining whethet· to certify an 

agency's system as malting meaningful distinctions based on relative 

pcrfot·mance. The system bases critical elements on the executive core 

qualifications (ECQs) and provides a consistent and uniform framework for 

agencies to communicate expectations and evaluate the performance of SES 

members. However, performance assessment is less effective if it only occurs on 

an annual basis. These conversations should occur on a ft·equent and continuous 

basis to have a maximum impact. They need not occur iu a formalistic manne1·, 

but also, for example, in the daily conversational give-and-take relating to 

particulat· assignments or issues. If confirmed, I look forward to worldng with 

this Hppraisal system and the agencies that use it. 

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b. As OPM Director, how would you assist agency managers in conducting purposeful 

performance evaluations of their employees? 

Performance management is specific to each agency and to each agency's 

mission. However, there arc common themes that unite all agencies. For 

example, a modern performance management system should emphasize frequent 

and real-time feedback, and performance should be more consequential to how 

top performers are .-ewarded and compensated, and poor performers are held 

accountable. I look forward to working on advancing these ideas if confirmed as 

Deputy Director. 

26. In the 2017 duplication report, GAO found that there were I 05 diilercnt authorities that 

could be used by an agency to hire a person into the federal civil service, yet only 20 were 

commonly used. 

a. What experience do you have with the use of federal hiring authorities? 

My expereiuce in the use of Federal hiring authorities would be drawn from my 

previous Federal service at the General Services Adminsitration. 

b. What specific improvements or innovations to the federal hiring process would you 

propose? 

To be successful, the Federal Government needs to attract top talent. In order to 

attract individuals with an innovative spirit and commitment to public service, 

the Federal Government needs to build upon existing hiring methods and 

platforms (e.g., Pathways and USAJOBS). If confirmed, I will work closely wilh 

agencies to identify their current needs and ways to improve the Federal biting 

process, consistent with the merit systems principles and applicable law. 

c. As OPM Deputy Director, how would you encolU'age agencies with staffing 

shortages to better usc flexible hiring authorities? 

Agencies should examine existing authorities and contact OPM with 

questions they may have about challenges or shortages they may be facing. 

Ilit·ing flexibilities are not the only avenue available to provide relief to an 

agency's needs. 

27. Last year, Congress passed legislation that would refonn the federal government's abuse of 

achninistrative leave (Pub. L. No. 114-328, Sec. 1138). On July 13,2017, OPM proposed 

regulations to implement this legislation. 

a. What role will OPM play in ensuring each agency develops adequate policies and 

procedures to prevent the abuse of abuse of administrative leave and complies with 

the rccordkeeping requirements of the legislation? 

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OPM is developing regulations to address this issue. Once confirmed, I look 

forward to working with agencies to bring leave policies into complianc.e with 

the rccordkeeping requirements of the legislation. 

28. A 2015 GAO report entitled Improved Supervision and Better Use of Probationary Periods 

are Needed to Address Substandard Employee PeJformance found that agencies are not 

properly utilizing the probationary period to make performance-related decisions about the 

employee. 

a. Do you believe the probationary period for new employees and new 

management/supervisors should be extended'/ Please explain. 

The probationary period is effective when action is taken to prevent less than 

fully successful individuals from becoming Federal employees with all the rights 

that such an appointment entails. A longer probationary period may be 

appropriate depending on the position. However, I note that 5 U.S.C. 

7511(a)(l)(A) means that Federal civil service protections apply after one year of 

continuous service, irrespective of whethc1· an individual is in a probationary 

period as defined by OPM. 

b. Do you believe OPM could do more to ensure all agencies use computerized notice to 

remind them when an employee's probationary period is ending? 

I understand that the existing HR systems already contain this functionality. 

Each agency decides whether to use this functionality, and as Deputy Director I 

would encourage agencies to do so. 

c. Do you think managers should be required to determine whether an employee has 

demonstrated successful performance and conduct prior to the end of tbe probationary 

period? 

Yes. 

d. Do you have ideas for how the federal govcmment could more effectively use the 

probationary period in federal employment? 

I believe managers should use the probationary period to determine whether a 

new employee has the appropriate skills to be successful in the position, and then 

to take appropriate action before the end of the probationary period. 

Personnel Systems 

29. Do you believe there need to be additional Department-specific or government-wide 

personnel system refonns? And if so, what refonns do you believe arc necessary and why? 

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I believe we must always look for ways to continue attracting and retaining a Fedet·al 

workforce to face the challenges of today. While there may be some instances when 

agency-specific reforms may be necessary, we remain a single government and can 

benefit from the efficiencies of government-wide standardization. 

a. Do you believe the cunent General Schedule (GS) system, the pay scale which covers 

the majority of white-collar federal employees, needs significant reforms or 

comprehensive replacement? And if so, what refmms do you believe are necessary 

and why? 

Many features and requirements of today's Federal personnel system were 

designed for work and a workforce that has evolved over time, and are the 

legacy of a system conceived with good intention to uphold these pdnciples. 

However, the standardization and rigidity of the system poses challenges for a 

constantly evolving workforce that increasingly demands agility, flexibility, and 

reform. 'I:hese reforms include changes to the way the govemment recruits, 

hires, pays, classifies, and holds its employees accountable. 

30. What is your opinion about pay-for-performance systems in the federal government? 

A pay-for-performance system is one option that should be examined as OPM 

considers options of what systems work best to meet the growing and diverse needs of 

the 'Federal worldorce. Additional factors to take into consideration would include the 

Federal Government's ability to recmit top t:Iient into its workforce. 

31. On April12, 2017, OMB Director Mulvaney published a memorandum entitled 

Comprehensive Plan for Reforming the federal Govennnent and Reducing the Federal 

Civilian Workforce." The memo states that "OMB and [OPMJ will work with agencies to 

facilitate reductions in the size oftheir workforce and monitor progress." (p. 2). Further, the 

memo dictates that "[t]o facilitate any necessary reductions, OPM will provide streamlined 

templates to agencies for requesting approval to offer Volw1tary Early Retirement Authority 

and Volw1tary Separation Incentive Payments (VERA!VSIP) and OPM will provide 

expedited reviews for most requests within 30 days." (p. 10). As OPM Deputy Director, how 

would you ensure that agencies receive prompt support for both requesting and reviewing 

VERANSIP authority? 

I am aware that OPM and OMB have worked closely in recent months to streamline 

the VERANSIP pt·ocess to make it as straightforward as possible for agencies, 

including the issuance of simplified, form-fillable templates that agencies may use to 

submit requests. Ifl am confirmed as the Deputy Director of OPM, I will worl( with 

OPM staff to continue to give these requests prompt attention and help agencies receive 

the highest level of customct· service. 

a. Do you believe the current VSIP maximum lump-sum payment of $25,000 is an 

effective incentive to voluntarily separate? 

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With ·respect to the VSIP maximum lump-sum payment of $25,000, the $25,000 

cap was set in1992. Since 1992,the purchasing power of $25,000 has declined. 

VSIPs are intended as a tool to help minimize or avoid costly and disruptive 

reductions in force and for the tool to have its full impact, increasing the 

payment amount should be considered. I am aware OPM has transmitted a draft 

legislative proposal to the Hill that would provide an increase in the VSIP 

maximum lump-sum payment amount to $40,000. This proposal mirrors a 

provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Pub. 

L. No. 114-328, Sec. 1107) that was applicable to DoD only. I look forward to 

Congress' consideration of this proposal. 

Security Clearance Investigations 

32. The National Bureau of Background Investigations (NBIB) began operations less than a year 

ago as the central entity for conducting background investigations for the Federal 

govemment. What do you sec as your role in ensuring that NBIB does not suffer the same 

security lapses as experienced over several years by OPM' s Federal Investigative Services? 

If confirmed, I would work to promote ongoing activities with stakeholders, and help 

agencies clarify their responsibility to properly secure and protect their systems from 

potential threats. 

33. Security clearance investigations are currently done on a fee-for-service basis. Do yon 

believe that appropriations are necessary to address the existing backlog? 

The value in fee-fm·-serviee is that it allows agencies to purchase security clearance 

investigations based on their needs. This forces agencies to be prudent about the 

number of positions designated as requiring security clearances, while also preserving 

the greatest value for the American taxpayer by encouraging a more transparent 

accounting of how money is being spent on security clearance investigations. NBIB 

publishes its prices in advance of every Fiscal Year, so agencies are aware of the costs of 

security clearance investigations and arc able to plan theh· workforce costs. 

My understanding is that NBIB has not asked for additional app1·opriations to reduce 

the existing backlog. Presently, I believe NBIB is best situated to advise on that point. 

Should I be confi1·med, I look fonvard to discussing resource needs with NBIB. 

34. In the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act a provision (Sec. 951) was included tlmt 

required DoD to draft a plan for the potential shift of security clearance investigations back 

to DoD. What is your view of this provision? 

With Section 951, Congress directed the Department of Defense (DoD) to draft an 

implementation plan for the potential shift of security clearance investigations for DoD 

entities back to DoD. I concur with the lette1· from OPM's Acting Director Kathleen M. 

McGettigan that was transmitted to Congress on Septcmbe1· 6, 2017. This letter raises a 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 11 
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number of important matters that should be considered before any transition plan is 

implemented. 

35. OPM is currently working with DoD to develop a new system to serve as an end-to-end 

system for security clearance investigations. What do you see as the key considerations for 

OPM as this system is developed? 

Key considerations going forward will be (1) protecting the security of OPM's legacy 

systems in any kind of data transfer; (2) containing costs in ordet· to deliver the best 

value to the American taxpayer; and (3) fostering fair, open competition and 

transparency in the competition of any contracts entered into as a result of the 

development of the new system. 

Information Technology & Cybersecurity 

36. According to the FY16 Federal Infmmation Security Modernization Act (FISMA) Report to 

Congress only 13 of the 23 civilian CFO Act agencies have met government-wide 

performance goals. Overall, the Median Government-wide Maturity Model Rating is Level 2 

(Level 5 is the highest). How would you assist agency CIOs in meeting their performance 

goals and raising their Maturity Model Rating? 

I agree that the median government-wide Matmity Model Rating should be higher. All 

Federal agencies must continue to advance their efforts to enhance their cybersecurity. 

If confirmed as Deputy Director of OPM, I will work with the OPM CIO, OPM CISO 

and the Federal CIO Council to explore ways to help agencies meet their performance 

goals within the FISMA guidelines. 

37. There has been a high turnover rate of critical cybcrsecurity-related positions at OPM and 

significant regression in OPM's compliance with FISMA requirements. 

a. If confim1ed, what would you do to attract and retain cybersecurity talent? 

OPM has and continues to take action to address the growing need of 

cybersecurity professionals. OPM is committed to meeting this need as it is 

critical that the agency has the talent to face sophisticated and persistent cyber 

threats that pose strategic, economic, and security challenges to our Nation. If 

confirmed, I looll; forward to continuing to advance these critical initiatives. 

b. What would be your strategy to first establish a culture of compliance and then 

transition to a culture of integrated security? 

Consistent with the current cnlturc of compliance, all OPM employees must 

complete training so they understand their responsibility for protecting sensitive 

inform:ttiou with regard to cybersecurity rules and procedures, as do all Federal 

employees. In addition, the OPM CIO has wot·ked diligently to establish policies, 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 12 
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processes, procedures and technological solutions to further the cybersecurity 

compliance efforts. 

38. The OPM OIG has repeatedly warned about challenges that OPM faces regarding 

information security, including its most recent audit of OPM' s compliance with the FISMA. 

The serious data breaches that affected OPM demonstrated the consequences of poor 

information security management·· including the theft of personal information of millions of 

people. As Director, how will you improve the agency's cybersecurity and information 

security? 

OPM has taltcn steps to enhance its cybersecurity capabilities, including continuing to 

build relationships with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Department 

of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, Government Accountability Office, 

(GAO) and OPM's Office of the Inspector General. I am confident this progress will 

continue and lool< forward to assisting in its implementation as Deputy Director, if 

confirmed. 

39. What do you believe are the drivers of the cmTent and historical challenges in the IT 

programs at OPM and what will be your approach to improving its IT systems? 

Historically, IT modernization, operations and cybersecurity should have been higher 

priorities at OPM. I have been briefed on OPM's IT operations and strategies and I 

support their efforts to improve their IT security and systems. 

40. Many ofOPM's systems are still heavily paper-based and lead to backlogs and delays in 

processing. How would you address this issue? 

Much of the work OPM accomplishes in support of retired Federal employees and 

conducting background investigations still requires paper and presents opportunities to 

modernize. While moving from paper to electronic records will provide improvements 

and efficiencies, process improvements across the Federal Government will also help to 

generate additional efficiencies. 

Accountability and oversight 

41. What role do you think the OPM Deputy Director should play in identifying, preventing and 

recovering improper payments in OPM's programs? 

Identifying, preventing, and recovering improper payments is a high priority fm· OPM. 

OPM has implemented numerous corrective action plans that have included the 

development of improved procedures and processes to reduce improper payments 

including matches with agency partners. 

42. In its latest Management Challenges report, the OPM Inspector General has identified 

OPM's failure to usc data mining to identify improper payments. Do you have experience 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 13 
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with the use of data analytics? How can this tool he effectively used to curb improper 

payments? 

In my most recent role as Chief of Staff at the Department of Veterans' Services in 

Massachusetts, I identified a similar need for data mining and established a new 

position at the agency called "Director of Program Integrity and Data Analysis." This 

position is responsible fot· identifying data available to the agency for data matching to 

systematically reduce the incidence of improper payments. I am aware of the 

importance of data analytics and its potential application to OPM programs generally. 

If confirmed, I intend to assess OPM analytical capabilities and options for their use in 

areas such as this. 

43. What is your view of the role of the OPM Office oflnspector General (OIG)? If confirmed, 

what steps would you take as Director to establish a working relationship with the Inspector 

General? 

I am aware of the important role of the OPM Office of Inspector General and was most 

impressed by a general briefing provided to me by that office regarding its roles and 

responsibilities. Combatting fraud, waste aml abuse will be core objectives for OPM 

should I be confirmed. If confirmed, I look forward to worldng closely with that office 

to enhance OPM's efficiency in its operations and its accountability for achieving good 

results. My first order of business will be to review OIG findings and, as appropriate, 

assess the agency's progt·ess in addressing identified challenges and priorities. 

44. If confirmed, do you commit to ensuring that all recommendations made by the OPM 

Inspector General are reviewed, responded to, if necessary, and, tmless the agency justifies 

its disagreements with the recommendations, implemented to the fullest extent possible 

within a reasonable time period? 

Yes. 

45. Protecting whistle blower confidentiality is of the utmost impmiance to this Committee. 

a. How do you plan to implement policies within the agency to encourage employees to 

bring constructive suggestions forward without the fear of reprisal? 

If confirmed, I will review OPM training and communications practices and 

take opportunities to implement them in a way that clearly communicates 

available channels for communication. 

b. If confirmed, what avenues will be available to employees to report waste, fraud, or 

abuse within OPM? 

If confirmed, my intent is to sustain and develop fnrthe1· employee 

understanding of the impot·tauce to combat fraud, waste and abuse, and the 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 14 
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available avenues for reporting such concerns, including within the agency and 

to the Inspector General and the Congress. 

c. Do you commit without reservation to work to ensure that any whistle blower within 

OPM does not face retaliation? 

Yes, I will emphasize to all managers and supervisors the importance of 

preventing retaliation against individuals who make protected communications 

and reiterate that such retaliation, if proven, will constitute a pl'ohibited 

personnel practice, as presc!'ibed within Federal Law. 

d. Do you commit without reservation to take all appropriate action if notified about 

potential whistleblower retaliation? 

Yes, if confirmed, I will make every effort to assist and support the systems that 

Congress has put into place to protect whistleblowers and to enforce applicable 

laws. 

V. Relations with Congress 

46. Do you agree without reservation to comply witl1 any request or summons to appear and 

testify before any duly constituted comll1ittee of Congress if you are confirmed? 

Yes, I do. 

47. Do you agree without reservation to make any subordinate official or employee available to 

appear and testify before, or provide information to, any duly constituted committee of 

Congress if you are confhmed? 

Yes, I do. 

48. Do you agree v.r:ithout reservation to comply fully, completely, and promptly to any request 

for documents, communications, or any other agency material or infonnation from any duly 

constituted committee of the Congress if you are confitmed? 

Yes, I do. 

VI. Assistance 

49. Are these answers your own? Have you consulted with OPM, or any other interested pm·ties? 

If so, please indicate which entities. 

While I consulted with OPM staff on background material to use in responding to these 

questions, the final answers are my own. 

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Minority 

Supplemental Pre-hearing Questionnaire 

}<'or the Nomination of Michael Rigas to be 

Deputy Dh·ector, Office of Personnel Management 

I. Nomination Process and Conflicts of Interest 

1. Has the President or his staff asked you to sign a confidentiality or non-disclosure 

agreement? 

No. 

II. Background of Nominee 

2. Do you seek out dissenting views and how do you encourage constructive critical 

dialogue with subordinates? 

As a leader I know, it is important to listen to and respect all points of view when 

formulating policy. I believe in cultivating a collaborative relationship with 

subordinates and seeking diverse points of view on issues under consideration. 

3. Please give examples of times in your career when you disagreed with your superiors and 

aggressively advocated your position. Were you ever successful? 

I have always sought to have an ongoing and open dialogue in my career both with 

my superiors and with my subordinates. As such, as policies are being considered 

for formulation, modification or execution, I have worl{ed to have a collaborative 

relationship with all involved. I have been fortunate to be in a position where my 

point of view has been heard and considered, as have the points of views of my 

subordinates. I would bring this spirit of cooperation and collaboration to my role 

as Deputy Director, if confirmed. 

4. Please list and describe examples of when you made politically difficult choices that you 

thought were in the best interest of the country. 

I have always sought to have an ongoing and open tlialogue in my career both with 

my superiors and with my subordinates. As such, as policies are being considered 

for formulation, modification or execution, I have worked to have a collaborative 

relationship with all involved. I have been fortunate to be in a position where my 

point of view has been heard and considered, as have the points of views of my 

subordinates. I would bring this spirit of cooperation and collabOI·ation to my role 

as Deputy Director, if confinned. · 

5. What would you consider your greatest successes as a leader? 

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In each of the worl<places where I have been employed in a management or 

leadership role, I feel I have left those places in a better position than I found them 

when I began. Whether this meant improving the efficiency of operations, 

improving customer service, reducing the amount of time it takes to process 

benefits, or saving taxpayer dollars, I have made a positive and meaningful impact 

at each of my employers. Invariably this began with engaging with the employees 

and managers doing the work to seck their feedback on what the organization was 

doing and how things could be improved for our customers, taxpayers and 

employees. 

6. What would you consider your greatest career success overall? 

I would say that the consistent track record I have established of leaving each 

workplaces where I have been employed in a management or leadership role, in a 

better position than I found them when I began. In my most recent role at the 

Massachusetts Department of V ctcrans' Services, we have reduced the amount of 

time it takes to process Veteran benefits by leveraging technology solutions and 

improving the efficiency of operations. We are also on track to build a new state of 

the art $200 million Soldiers' Home Long Term Care facility to care for our 

Veterans. This took an extensive amount of collaboration with key stakeholders and 

interagency collaboration. If confirmed, I hope to be able to bring that track record 

of success to work at OPM. 

7. Please describe any experience you have wilh developing and selling personnel policies 

and addressing human resources issues. 

In my most recent role as Chief of Staff at the Department of Veterans' Services, I 

have had numerous occasions to work on developing and setting personnel policies 

and addressing human resources issues. 

8. What has been your primary role at the Massachusetts Department ofVetcrans' Services 

(DVS) and what would you point to as your greatest accomplishment there? 

In my most recent role as Chief of Staff at the Department ofVetct·ans' Services, my 

primary role has been to support the Governor's and the Secretat·y's priorities for 

serving the Veterans of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the time I have 

been there, we have successfully reduced the amount of time it takes to process 

Veterans benefits by leveraging IT solutions and we have also laid the groundwork 

to build a state of the art $200 million Soldiers' Home Long Term Care facility to 

serve our Veterans. 

9. Please describe your role and responsibilities as the Diversity Officer and Americans with 

Disability Act (ADA) coordinator at DVS. 

In my role as ADA Coordinator at the Department of Veterans' Services, I oversaw 

our agency's efforts to comply with the law and handle disability based 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 17 
150 

discrimination complaints. In my role as Diversity Officer, I worl•cd to create an 

inclusive wo1·k environment where people of all backgrounds felt welcomed, valued, 

and respected. I also had a role in the hiring process, reviewing the job postings. 

prior to publication, reviewing the applicant pool for diversity, and reviewing the 

process at various stages to ensure the requirements contained in the agency's 

Affirmative Action Plan have been met. 

10. Please describe your role and responsibilities as Deputy Director for Coalition Relations 

at the Heritage Foundation. 

In my role as Deputy Director of Coalition Relations at the Heritage Foundation, I 

worked to advance free-market and limited government public policy solutions by 

promoting the work of Heritage scholars with public policy professionals around the 

country. I would represent Heritage and advance its policy solutions at external 

meetings, major conferences, briefings and one-on-one meetings in Washington D.C. 

and around the country. 

11. Please describe your role and responsibilities as Deputy Associate Administrator and 

Associate Administrator at the General Services Administration. 

As Deputy Associate Administ1·ator, I reported to the Associate Administrator and 

supported the agency's small business efforts. As Associate Administrator, I was a 

direct report to the Administrator of GSA and was responsible for all small business 

policies and programs of GSA, the premier procurement agency of the Federal 

Government. I represented GSA to agency heads, business and trade association 

leaders and prime contractors. I improved the agency's grade on its small business 

scorecard from "red" to "green," and increased the efficiency of operations, 

reducing cost to taxpayers and increasing small business access. 

12. In your biographical questionnaire you state that you served as president and CEO of 

Procurement Advisors, LLC. 

a. Please describe this business and how long it has been in existence. 

I established this business in 2009. It focused on assisting companies with 

GSA Schedule preparation. 

b. What was your role there and did it have any other employees? 

I was the President and CEO. My wife assisted me on a volunteer basis. 

There were no other employees. 

c. Please provide a list of all clients of the business. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 18 
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I engaged with the following companies to assist them with the GSA 

Schedule preparation process: Mason Harriman Group, Blue Sky Films 

and McKellar Corporation. 

13. Please describe your roles and responsibilities at each of Mellon Financial Corporation, 

Brown Brothers Haniman & Co., OCS of America and United Asset Management. 

Please identify at each of these fums whether you were engaged in any work that 

involved the federal government, and, if so, please describe that work 

At Mellon Financial, I served as an Assistant Vice President at the time the 

company was a major global bank with $4 trillion in assets. I numaged Mellon's 

most sensitive and important client relationships, and coached and men to red 35 

staff and managers. I helped successfully streamline and consolidate operations in 

U.S. and London offices, allowing the bank to take on an entirely new line of 

business without hiring additional staff. Additionally, we turned around a 

department with history of multi-million dollar losses, consistently imp•·oved 

efficiency and controls across the operation saving the company millions of dollars. 

I was not engaged in any work to my lmowledge that involved the Federal 

Government. 

At B1·own Brothers Harriman, I processed billions of dollars of cash, securities and 

foreign exchange transactions. I was promoted from Specialist to Senior Specialist 

to Supervisor of International Corporate Actions in a 3 year period. I successfully 

implemented the change from 8 hour to 24 hour global processing capabilities to 

meet global client demand. I was not engaged in any worli to my lmowledge that 

involved the Federal Government. 

At OCS of America, I transformed operations of an import/export firm from paper 

to on-line, dramatically imp1·oving efficiency of financial analysis, bookkeeping, 

inventory control, sales tracking and other data management. I succeeded in 

achieving established goals of reducing costs while modernizing company 

operations. I was not engaged in any work to my knowledge that involved the 

Federal Government. 

At United Asset Management, I performed analysis of assets under management 

and assessed revenue impact for one of the largest independent asset management 

companies in the world. I analyzed methods of amortizing intangible assets. I was 

not engaged in any work to my knowledge that involved the Federal Government. 

III. Policy Questions 

14. OPM has had serious challenges in administering its major contracts, to include its 

infrastructure modernization plan where the contractor walked away in the middle of 

performance and the FSAFEDS contract, where OPM extended the contract for 13 years 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 19 
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without rccompeling. What would you do to address these contract management 

performance issues? 

Rcsourcing issues, which have been addressed in part, are allowing OPO to begin 

satisfying OIG recommendations and findings and in turn reducing the level of risk 

the agency faces both during contract award and in contract administration. The 

establishment of a contracting activity within NBIB presents a step towards 

increasing focus on awarding and administering contracts to support the 

background investigation function. If confirmed as Deputy Director, I look forward 

to assisting in these reform efforts to ensm·e the most efficient and effective end to 

end processes and systems possible. 

15. One of OPM's roles is to assist other Depmiments and agencies with their strategic 

human capital platming. What do you see as the greatest challenges facing federal 

agencies in their planning effmis and as Director how would you assist them in 

addressing those challenges? 

I believe the biggest impediment to be developing government-wide policies and 

practices can be the competing needs of each agency. Last year, OPM initiated a 

Human Capital Framework to assist agencies with human capital management and, 

if confirmed, I look forward to continuing with these efforts. I would add that we 

have a tremendous opportunity to work with agencies to develop analytical skills 

and technological infrastmcture to help make evidence-based decisions. 

16. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget recently issued a memorandum to 

tl1e heads of executive branch departments and agencies asking for agencies to submit 

plans for reorganizing their agencies and reducing the size of the federal workforce. 

What human capital challenges do you foresee with the development and implementation 

of these phms and how, as OPM Deputy Director, would you work with agencies to 

address them? 

Above all, agencies must engage in comprehensive workforce planning to determine 

how best to align the agency's human capital to agency mission and priorities. In 

cases where there is misalignment of the world"orce with current or anticipated 

requirements, agencies must select and apply the right world"orce reshaping tools. It 

is also important during times of change for agencies to attend to the workforce to 

support employees who may be transitioning and to encourage high performance 

and engagement. Should I be confirmed as the Deputy Director of OPM, I would 

work towards OPM providing agencies with the guidance, support, tools, and 

services they need to design and implement their world"orcc planning and reshaping 

efforts. 

17. What role should OPM play in assisting agencies that are looking at contracting out work 

that is cmTently performed by federal employees and insourcing work to federal 

employees that is currently pcrfmmed by contractors? 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 20 
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I believe each agency should be responsible for determining its own workforce needs 

with the appropriate balance between Federal employees and contractor support. 

18. One of the important roles of OPM is working with agencies to make sure that the federal 

workforce represents the diversity of the American people and agencies have inclusive 

policies to stren~orthen agencies' ability to meet their mission and ensure retention of 

employees. 

a. What do you believe is the role of the OPM Deputy Director in assisting 

agencies with their diversity and inclusion efforts? 

As a Federal agency, OPM draws on the wisdom of the workforce that 

reflects the population it serves, so it is able to better understand and meet 

the needs of its customers. Government-wide, OPM has made important 

progress toward hiring a worldorce that truly reflects America's diversity, 

and if confirmed, I will work to continue to pursuing that goal. Aside from 

hiring a diverse worll.force, OPM must affirm that it works to gain the 

maximum benefit from an increasingly diverse worldorce. 

b. What role do you think OPM should play in specifically addressing 

employment of individuals with disabilities? 

As the Nation's largest employer, the Federal Government has a special 

responsibility to lead by example in including people with disabilities in 

the workforce. 

19. What is your opinion of the state of veterans' employment, including use of statutory and 

discretionary hiring authorities, in the federal govemment? If confinned as Deputy 

Director, what would be yom priorities in the area of veterans' employment? 

Our Veterans have made tremendous sacrifices for our country, and it is only right 

that we assist them in making the transition back to civilian life. Veterans currently 

represent approximately one-third of the total U.S. Federal workforce and statutory 

tools lil{e Veterans' preference have been effective, while discretionary hiring 

authorities provide agencies reasonable hiring flexibility. However, it has been 

efforts like the Veterans Employment Initiative and the work of the Interagency 

Council on Veterans Employment that has strengthened this representation across 

agencies and not just in those agencies yon would expect a large Veterans 

population. This is a strong number, but this number won't stay strong without 

continued advocacy from leadership. 

20. What arc your views with respect to the cunent hiring process within the Federal 

Government, and what improvements would you recommend? 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 21 
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To be successful, the Federal Government needs to attract top talent to work in the 

zpt century. In 01·der to attract individuals with an innovative spit·it and 

commitment to public service, the Fedc.-al Government needs to build upon existing 

hiring methods and platforms (e.g., Pathways and USAJOBS). If confirmed, I will 

work closely with agencies to identify their cmTent needs and ways to improve the 

Federal hiring process. · 

2L How do you think the federal govenunent, and OPM in particular, can better enhance 

employee morale within the conslmct of being a steward of taxpayer dollars? Are there 

any programs that you would consider instituting to enhance morale? 

For the last few years, the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results have 

continuously shown the commitment of Federal employees. I believe that there are 

meaningful ways in which agencies can improve morale of the workforce. For 

instance, improving employee engagement, connecting employees with the mission 

of the agency, improving communication throughout the organization, soliciting 

employee comments and feedback on ways to improve the organization, 

implementing coaching and mentoring programs, and rotational development 

opportunities are just some examples that agencies can use to improve morale in 

times of fiscal constraints. 

22. Over the years, various Departments and agencies have sought and received authorities to 

establish personnel systems outside of government-wide provisions and independent of 

OPM policies and oversight. What is your opinion about the patchwork ofpers01mel 

systems and authorities that exist throughout the federal government? 

The Federal Government's workforce is large and diverse and the many and varied 

needs ofits agencies and missions requires flexibility. However, it is worth 

considering whether the authorities in place arc in fact the best ways for agencies to 

meet their needs. Wlleu similarly situated classes of employees are treated 

differently by circumstance of which agency employs them, internal competition 

among agencies can rise and morale can be challenging to maintain. This is not to 

say, however, that all agencies arc identical. If special personnel systems or 

authorities are neccssat")' fot· an agency to thrive, that is a discussion worth having, 

but such a discussion should also examine whether the establishment of such 

systems or authorities are moted in addressing a problem that cannot be addressed 

in any other way. 

23. What is your opinion about the cunent state of workplace flexibilities in the federal 

government and the ability of agencies to use existing flexibilities to meet their missions? 

Going forward, I believe thet·e are two key approaches to workforce flcxibilities. 

First, agencies and managers must provide effective oversight of these flexibilities 

and provide leaders the training to assist them in holding employees accountable for 

performance while also assisting employees with the ability to integrate their worli 

Senate Homeland Securily and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 22 
155 

and non-work responsibilities. Telework is critical to agencies to provide emergency 

preparedness, however managers must make clear to workers that flc:xibilities lilie 

telework are an option for some positions and employees and not an entitlement. 

Workforce fle:xibilities should not be abused aud managers should be responsible 

for holding all employees accountable for their performance. Secondly, agencies 

should be open to ongoing discussions about workforce flexibilities in order to 

guarantee the Federal Government can stay competitive with the private sector and 

critical for .mstaining a high-performing woridorce. Should I be confirmed as the 

Deputy Director of OPM, I looli forward to continuing this dialog. 

24. OPM, in coordination with OMB, sets government-wide personnel policies and priorities, 

and also operates a fee-for-service division that provides a range of human resources 

support through service contracts. What is your opinion of OPM's role as a policymaking organization as well as operating as a service contract vehicle? 

OPM achieves its mission through a policy, service, and oversight 

framework. Through regulations and policy, our HR Policy organization creates 

governance for organizations to administe1· their Iffi programs, consistent with 

Congressional laws and intent. 

25. Do you have any experience working with whistleblowers? If so, without providing 

identifying information, please describe the nature of that experience. 

While I do not have direct personal experience working with whistleblowers, I 

believe it is imperative that whistleblowers have the full protection of the law and 

that support is communicated by agency leadership. 

26. How would you approach a case where a manager was alleged to have retaliated against a 

whistlcblower? 

Retaliation against whistle blowers is illegal and unacceptable behavior. I would 

worli with the Office of the General Counsel, and the OIG, if necessary, to 

investigate the allegation of retaliation. If it is proven true, I will work with the 

OPM Employee Accountability team lo determine what actions are available to hold 

the manager accountable. 

III. Relations with Congress and the Public 

27. If confirmed, how will you make certain that you will respond in a timely manner to 

Member requests for information? 

If confirmed, I will communicate my desire to respond in a timely manner to 

Congressional inquiries, and provide oversight of OPM staff to follow through on 

this commitment. 

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156 

28. If confitmed, do you agree without reservation to reply to any reasonable request for 

information from the Ranking Member of any duly constituted committee of the 

Congress? 

Yes, I do. 

29. If confirmed, do you agree without reservation to reply to any reasonable requcfit for 

infmmation from members of Congress? 

Yes, I do. 

30. If confirmed, do you commit to take all reasonable steps to ensure that you and your 

agency comply with deadlines established for requested information? 

Yes, I do. 

31. On May 1, 2017, the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued an 

opinion regarding how executive branch agencies should respond to requests from 

ranking members of congressional committees. The OLC opinion states thai agencies 

have the "discretion" to respond to oversight requests fi:om ranking members or 

individual members of Congress. The OLC opinion identifies that "the Executive Branch 

has historically exercised its discretion in determining whether and how to respond." Do 

you believe this opinion to control the Office of Personnel Management in its 

communication with Congress? If so, please describe the factors you would weigh in 

evaluating the circumstances lhal wanant a response to a request by the Ranking Member 

of any duly constituted committee of Congress. 

I believe it is important for OPM to be responsive and communicate with 

Congressional Committees. If confirmed, I will work to the fullest extent possible to 

respond to requests from Congress. 

32. If confirmed, do you commit to protect subordinate officials or employees from reprisal 

or retaliation for any testimony, briefings or commtmications with members of Congress? 

Yes, I do. 

33. If confirmed, will you ensure that any stafffor which you are responsible will fully and 

promptly provide inf01mation and access to appropriate documents and officials in 

response to requests made by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the 

Congressional Research Service? 

Yes, I do. 

34. If confirmed, will you agree to work with representatives from this Committee and the 

GAO to prompUy implement recommendations for improving OPM's operations and 

effectiveness? 

Senate llomeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 24 
157 

Yes, I do. 

3 5. If confirmed, will you direct your staff to fully and promptly respond to Freedom of 

Information Act requests submitted by the American people? 

Yes. I will. 

I, ~-M r£-1-ttc.( I ~~·~q S , hereby state that I have read the foregoing Pre-Hearing 

Questionnaire and Supplemental Questionnaires and that the information provided therein is, to 

the best of my knowledge, cunent, accurate, and complete. 

(Signature) ~~ 

This_-,.& day of_ 0 C /rJ hu- , 2017 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental AtJairs Committee Page 25 
158 

Ranking Member Claire McCaskill 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Mr. Michael Rigas 

Nominations of Jeff T.H. Pon to be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Services Administration 

Wednesday October 18,2017 

COOPERATION WITH CONGRESS 

Q: Do you agt·ee that FOIA exemptions do not apply to congressional oversight 

requests? 

Mr. Rigas: I agree that FOIA exemptions do not apply to congressional requests emanating from 

a chamber or Committee of Congress. acting in its oversight role. 

Q: Based on your prior experience, how do you plan to work with Congress to lead the 

improvement of policy and operations at OPM? 

Mr. Rigas: If confirmed, I plan to work with Congress to ensure that OPM has the tools 

necessary to assist Federal agencies with meeting their human capital needs. 

Q: From your prior experience, can you discuss an instance in which you complied 

fully, completely and promptly with a congressional request for documents, 

communications or any other agency material? If not, why? 

Mr. Rigas: In my prior Federal service at the General Services Administration, I did not receive 

congressional request for documents. communications or any other agency material. 

Q: Will you pledge to copy the Ranking Member and/or staff on all official 

correspondence with the Committee and ensure that such correspondence is 

transmitted to the Ranking Member's office contemporaneous with transmittal to 

the Committee? 

Mr. Rigas: Yes. 

Q: Will you pledge to ensure that all meetings, briefings, and other official engagements 

with the Committee staff include both the majority and minority? 

Mr. Rigas: I pledge to work with Congress, and specifically this committee in its role as an 

overseer, as appropriate. 

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159 

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS 

Q: If confirmed, what additional reforms will you prioritize to ensure that NBIB can 

make a real dent in alleviating this backlog? 

Mr. Rigas: If confinned, I will work with the OPM Director to support the ongoing efforts of the 

National Background Investigations Bureau's (NBIB) to grow capacity in its Federal and 

contractor workforce. I will also support NBIB's initiatives to reduee the level of efTort required 

by investigators to work on each case through streamlining processes, reallocating resources, and 

updating internal policies to permit greater efficiencies and effectiveness while simultaneously 

maintaining quality and reciprocity for all of Government. I am also committed to working 

through the Performance Accountability Council (PAC) on process reform efforts that will 

hcncfit the entire government. 

In J<'ebruary of this year, Senator McCaskill wrote a letter to the Government 

Accountability Office requesting a comprehensive review and report regarding the transfer 

of background investigation functions to identify lessons learned and to develop a 

comprehensive strategy for a government-wide security clearance background 

investigation program. GAO's work remains ongoing. 

Q: If confirmed, will you commit to implementing all of GAO's recommendations to 

improve the security clearance background investigation program'! 

Mr. Rigas: If confirmed, I will support any efforts undertaken by GAO to engage with OPM on 

this topic and will support resolution of any resulting audit findings. 

WIIISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION 

Q: What do you sec as your role in ensuring that OPM employees feel comfortable 

making protected disclosures regarding waste, fraud and abuse? 

Mr. Rigas: If conlirmed, I see my role as communicating the importance of combating waste, 

fraud and abuse in the Federal Government. This will be emphasized throughout all of OPM with 

further communications that underscore the importance of protecting whistlcblowers from 

retaliation. 

Q: If OI'M employees bring complaints or concerns regarding management to your 

attention, will you ensure that these complaints are addressed expeditiously and 

raised to Dr. Pon, if appropriate'! 

Mr. Rigas: I will take disclosures of wrongdoing seriously. In some cases it may be best to ask 

oflices with relevant expertise to develop the facts and make an assessment of what has 

happened before taking steps to address a complaint. 

SUPPORTING DISASTER RELIEF 

Page 2 of7 
160 

Q: How can OPM work with other federal agencies to ensure that these types of 

staffing shortfalls do not persist and undermine service delivery to Americans 

devastated by natural disasters? 

Mr. Rigas: In addition to serving as a policy maker and overseer, OPM seeks opportunities to 

work as a strategic partner with each agency, providing solutions, tools, best practices, and 

innovation. OPM has to lead as the President's agent and lead advisor on Federal Human Capital 

matters. If confirmed, I will work closely with agencies and other stakeholders to identify their 

current needs and the best ways to improve the Federal hiring process to deliver an effective 

workforce on behalf of U.S. citizens. To the extent some aspect of the hiring process is a 

concern, I would consider ways the hiring process can be improved. We may need to design our 

personnel systems so that we can update our policies and practices for today and tomorrow. 

Q: If confirmed, in what ways could you assist in supporting the Director's efforts 

towards disaster relief? 

Mr. Rigas: If confirmed and assuming Dr. Pon is confirmed. I would work with the Director to 

continue ongoing cffmis and work with Federal agencies to understand areas of continued need. 

BOLSTERING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND CYBER SECURITY 

Q: Given past missteps with information security, OPM needs to learn from its 

mistakes and set a tone for the rest of government. What specific aspects of your 

past experience that will prepare you to take on OPM's IT modernization and 

cybersecurity efforts? 

Mr. Rigas: In my most recent role as Chief of Staff at the Massachusetts Department of 

Veterans' Services, I supervised our Director of Operations and Director of Data Analysis and 

Program Integrity who also had responsibility for IT security fix the agency. Each year our 

agency had to certify that we met IT security standards. In this role, I have also overseen the 

modernization and upgrade of our benefits processing system for annuities as well as the ongoing 

improvements to our other IT systems. In my prior role at the GSA, I worked with our 

acquisition centers to promote our contract vehicles such as the GSA Schedule 70 and 

government-wide Acquisition Contracts such as the VETS GWAC which provided our Federal 

partners at agencies all across the country with state of the art technology solutions. 

Q: Arc there additional steps Congress should take to make it easier for the federal 

government to recruit and retain qualified IT and cybcr-security professionals? 

Mr. Rigas: I believe OPM should examine industry best practices for recruiting and retaining 

qualified IT and cyber-security professionals and see to what extent those practices can be 

leveraged within the Federal Government so the Federal Government can be competitive in 

recruiting the best talent to serve our country. I would also work with key stakeholders across 

government such as the CHCO Council and agency heads to identify areas of improvement. If 

Page 3 of7 
161 

confirmed, 1 would be happy to work with you and your staff on ways the Federal Government 

can improve its recruitment and retention of qualified cyber and IT professionals. 

Q: How can OPM work with federal agencies to successfully compete with the private 

sector to fill these and other critical positions? 

Mr. Rigas: OPM has taken and continues to take action to address the growing need of 

cybersecurity professionals. OPM is committed to meeting this need as it is critical that Federal 

agencies have the talent to face sophisticated and persistent cyber threats that pose strategic, 

economic, and security challenges to our Nation. If confirmed, l look forward to continuing to 

advance these critical initiatives. 

Following the 2014 dnta breach at OPM, the ngency dedicated significant resources toward 

re-authorizing the IT and cyber security systems that were neglected. Despite these efforts, 

in June 2017, the OPM Inspector General found that OPM's mnnagemcnt of system 

authorizntions continues to represent a material weakness in the agency's IT security 

program. 

Q: What experience do you ha,•c in IT management nnd whnt do you believe is needed 

to ensure that OPM can meet its mission in the digital age while protecting 

individuals' personal information? 

Mr. Rigas: In my most recent role as Chief of Staff at the Massachusetts Department of 

Veterans' Services, I supervised our Director of Operations and Director of Data Analysis and 

Program Integrity who also had responsibility for IT security for the agency. Each year our 

agency had to certify that we met IT security standards. I have also overseen the modernization 

and upgrade of our benefits processing system for annuities as well as the ongoing improvements 

to our other IT systems. My experience as a manger and senior executive has been working with 

subject matter experts and leveraging their particular knowledge and synthesize that with my 

own skills and experience as a manager to find the best solutions. OPM has taken steps to 

enhance its cybcrsecurity capabilities, including continuing to build relationships with other 

relevant agencies and the OPM OIG. I am confident this progress will continue and look forward 

to assisting in its implementation as Deputy Director, if confirmed. 

Q: If confirmed, will you ensure that OP:W implements all of the Inspector General's 

recommendations? 

Mr. Rigas: If confirmed, I will work with OPM's Office of the Chief lnt\1rmation Officer and 

Office of the Inspector General to implement recommendations and resolve audit findings to the 

greatest extent possible. 

Q: What additional actions will you take to address the deficiencies in OPM's IT 

infrastructure and ensure that a similar breach docs not occur going forward? 

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162 

Mr. Rigas: If confirmed, the security ofOPM's systems and data will continue to be an OPM 

priority, an importtmt aspect of agency culture from the top down, and an area of continual 

enhancement. Upgrading OPM's lT infrastructure is a central component ofOPM's risk 

mitigation strategy, to address both cybersecurity risks and the operational risk posed by 

outdated and underperforming equipment. In addition, OP\1 has centralized its cybersecurity 

resources and efforts under the Chieflnformation Security Officer, published policies so that 

proactive steps can be taken to secure and control access to sensitive information, and continues 

to engage regularly with the Office of the Inspector Gencml to collaborate and remediate audit 

lindings. OPM has implemented critical enhancements to strengthen the security ofOPM's 

networks and has improved its security and assessment authorization process. OPM has also 

taken a leadership role in its support for Federal initiatives such as the OMB cyber sprint and the 

DHS Continuous Diagnostic and Mitigation program. If confirmed, I will work with the Office 

of the Chief lnl(Jrmation Ofticer to support these important activities along with continuing to 

train and educate end users on cyber risk avoidance and supporting implementation of new and 

enhanced security policies, processes and procedures. I have been briefed on OPM's IT 

operations and strategies and I support their etforts to improve their rr security and systems. 

ACCOUNT ABILITY FOR FEDERAL WORKERS 

One of the persistent challenges facing the federal workforce is that the misconduct of a 

few can cast a shadow over the millions of diligent federal employees working on behalf of 

the American people every day, Moreover, if confirmed, you will be entering these roles at 

a time when employee morale is significantly low due to threats of government shutdowns 

and proposed budget cuts in pay, retirement and health care for federal employees. 

Q: Do you support the President's proposed cuts, and why? If these cuts are adopted, 

what arc your plans to empower federal employees and to improve employee morale 

government-wide? 

Mr. Rigas: I have worked in resource constrained environments in the public and private sectors 

and in those times worked with staff to find new and innovative ways to achieve our 

organizational objectives, and improved morale by demonstrating a shared commitment to their 

work and the organization's mission. Private sector companies are moving away from defined 

benefit plans and towards defined contribution plans. While these proposals maintQin a Federal 

defined benefit plan, they also bring other aspects of Federal retirement benefits in line with the 

private sector and reduce overall costs to the taxpayer. I do not believe the implementation of 

retirement bene lit changes will impact the Federal Government's recruiting and retention 

eff(Jrts. If confirmed, I will work with OPM leadership to examine ways to enhance employee 

morale. 

Q: What policies can OPM implement to promote accountability offedcrai employees 

who break the law or engage in other misconduct? 

Mr. Rigas: Not only do mamgers have the authority to take actions against employees in 

appropriate circumstances, they have a responsibility to do so. With respect to performancebased actions, success will depend in part upon the adequacy of the underlying performance 

Page 5 of 7 
163 

standards to demonstrate unsatisfactory performance, whether the agency adequately 

documented deficiencies in performance, and the agency's adherence to the preliminary steps 

required by law. OPM should promote a culture of accountability across all agencies. If 

conlirmed, I would work with Congress to consider what changes, if any. might enhance 

managers' ability to deal effectively with performance and conduct-related problems. In the 

meantime, there are reasonably effective tools for supervisors to address poor performance or 

misconduct. OPM should continue educating supervisors about these tools and supporting them 

in using them. 

Page 6 of7 
164 

Senator Heidi Heitkamp 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Mr. Michael Rigas 

Nominations of .Jeff T.H. Pon to be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Services Administration 

Wednesday October 18,2017 

1. Given your previous experience as Chief of Staff at the Massachusetts State 

Department of Veterans' Services, what initiatives will you bring in order 

emphasize the recruitment and retention of Veterans' in the federal government? 

Mr. Rigas: In my role as Chief of Staff at the Department of Veterans' Services in 

Massachusetts, I had the opportunity to work with the veteran community and other stakeholders 

in supporting veteran employment. One of the challenges veterans and hiring managers face is 

being able to translate the skills and technical abilities veterans have from their time in service 

into language that is easily understood as transferable skills and abilities by civilian hiring 

managers. If confirmed, I would work with internal and external stakeholders and agencies to 

develop strategies for addressing this and other issues to support the Government's veteran 

recruitment and retention ctforts. I would also assess OPM's analytical capabilities with respect 

to veteran recruitment and retention, if confirmed. 

Page 7 of7 
165 

Statement of Emily Webster Murphy 

Nominee to be Administrator, U.S. General Services Administration 

October 18, 2017 

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member McCaskill, and Members of the Committee1 appear before you today humbled by the nomination to serve as the next Administrator of the 

U.S. General Services Administration, or GSA, and I am honored by the confidence placed in 

me by President Trump and his team. I owe a debt of gratitude to my home state Senator, 

Ranking Member McCaskill, for her willingness to introduce me here today. 

Before I begin my formal remarks, I would be remiss if I did not introduce several members of 

my family who have made the trip from St. Louis to be here for today's hearing: 

My father Jim Murphy, who taught me the value of hard work by having me answer phones for 

the family business; my mother Mimi who started practicing law in 1971, showing me that 

women can do anything; my sister Anne Hill and her husband Rob, who had the courage to start 

their own small business; their children Charlie who is in fifth grade and Jane who is in third 

grade; and my brother Joey who has the most important job of any of us - teaching the next 

generation. 

I am proud to have grown up in St. Louis, the Gateway to the West, and will always consider it 

home. But I have spent most of my professional life in Washington, D.C., delving into the 

details and nuances of contracting and procurement policy. In fact, I consider myself a bit of a 

wonk and I mean that in the best way possible. 

After graduating from Smith College, I interned for my Member of Congress, Jim Talent. He 

eventually hired me to work for him at the House Committee on Small Business. As I'm sure 

some of your staff can attest, the newest staffer often gets the issue no one else wants, and so I 

started working on Federal procurement policy. Working on contracting, I realized I could make 

a difference by saving money for taxpayers, improving competition, and helping agencies 

deliver on their unique missions. More than twenty years later, I still find it compelling. 

I attended law school at the University of Virginia, earning my J.D., and returned to Washington 

to practice government contracts law. In 2004, I was honored to join the U.S. Small Business 

Administration (SBA) as a senior advisor for government contracts and business development 

and the Acting Administrator for Government Contracting. In that role, I directed a team of over 

140 staff nationwide to help the agency better provide assistance to small businesses seeking 

Federal procurement opportunities. Our team was able to successfully reduce the cycle time for 

some small business certifications by 65 percent. I am proud to say that during my tenure, the 

SBA- for the first time in history - met its statutorily-mandated goal of awarding 23 percent of 

prime contracts to small businesses. 
166 

In 2005, 1 had the privilege of joining GSA and serving as its inaugural Chief Acquisition Officer. 

In this role, I participated in leading the transformation of the agency's assisted acquisition 

centers, as well as the consolidation of the Federal Supply Service and the Federal Technology 

Service. As the agency's representative to the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council 

and the leader of the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council, I coordinated efforts to modernize the 

FAR and GSA regulations to more closely refiectthe Federal Government's increasing use of 

service contracts, as opposed to commodity buys. 

Most importantly, I worked closely with the Inspector General (I G) to address contracting issues 

in GSA's eleven regions, where the IG had identified problems with improper sole source 

contracts, misuse of small business contracts, out-of-scope orders being placed against 

contracts, and Anti-Deficiency Act violations. The auditors attributed their findings to an 

ineffective system of internal management controls and contract personnel prioritizing customer 

preference over proper procurement procedures. To address these issues, I worked with the 

GSA Commissioners and the Regional Administrators to: 1) communicate that failure to follow 

the law would not be tolerated; 2) identify areas where contracting specialists perceived 

ambiguity and provide clarity regarding expectations and policy; 3) engage in workforce training 

targeting identified failures or weaknesses; 4) implement an ongoing series of procurement 

management reviews to identify other outstanding issues; 5) realign reporting chains and 

performance plans to ensure that contract specialists were evaluated on the quality of their 

work; 6) communicate with contractors regarding the proper procedures to follow should a task 

order appear to exceed to scope of the contract; 7) develop the Schedules elibrary to assist 

contracting officers in making scope determinations; B) institute regular meetings with the 

Department of Defense (DoD) to insure that any DoD specific requirements or funding issues 

were appropriately addressed by GSA; and 9) engage in ongoing dialogue with the IG so that all 

issues could be addressed promptly, thus mitigating risk to the taxpayer. GSA continues to 

have regular program management reviews, engage in targeted training, and maintain many of 

these processes. 

After my time at GSA, I rejoined the private sector and gained critical experience and insight on 

the Federal contracting process from different perspectives -as a customer, prime contractor 

and subcontractor; from the civilian and defense sides; and as a lawyer representing clients 

seeking to navigate the Federal procurement system. These firsthand experiences have been 

invaluable, as they provided a holistic view of the Federal contracting process. I know the 

frustrations of customers seeking to contract with the Federal Government because 1 have been 

in their shoes, and if confirmed, I will continue to use that experience to improve the process. 

In 2011, I returned to the House Committee on Small Business, serving again under a Missouri 

Chairman, Congressman Sam Graves, and then Chairman Steve Chabot of Ohio. While 1 

specialized in acquisition policy, I also worked on capital access, regulatory reform, tax, and 

trade issues. The Committee conducted rigorous oversight of contracting agencies, including 

GSA, and worked on bipartisan legislation that aimed to help small businesses seeking to 
167 

compete for contracts with the Federal Government. These bipartisan reforms many of which 

originated in a Republican House, but were adopted by a Democratic Senate and signed into 

law by then-President Obama- sought to improve opportunities for service-disabled veterans 

and small technology firms; minimize barriers to entry; reduce regulatory burdens on prime and 

subcontractors; reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in government contracting; and streamline 

design-build contracting. 

I gained further valuable experience during my lime on the House Committee on Armed 

Services (HASC), working on acquisition issues specific to the DoD, such as challenges with 

commercial item contracts, auditing, service contracting, program management, acquisition 

workforce, and business processes at the DoD. 

Earlier this year, I rejoined GSA, where I analyze topics related to acquisition to provide advice 

to the Acting Administrator, Tim Horne. For instance, I worked with Acting Administrator Horne 

on the merger of the Federal Acquisition Service and the Technology Transformation Service, 

the implementation of the Transactional Data rule, and opportunities to improve how GSA 

facilitates purchases of technology. 

Over the past 20 years, through my various roles in the legislative and executive branches, I 

have gained a deep appreciation for the oversight responsibilities of Congress. If confirmed, I 

pledge that you will have an accessible, transparent, and responsive Administrator who looks 

forward to continuing this important work. 

Taking on this responsibility, I am reminded of a saying of a native son of Missouri, President 

Harry S Truman, who signed into law the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act 

establishing GSA: "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the 

credit." I am not here to garner headlines or make a name for myself; my goal is to do my part 

in making the Federal Government more efficient, effective, and responsive to the American 

people. 

Indeed, as someone who has spent much of my career working on Capitol Hill, I believe it is still 

GSA's mission to fulfill the charge Congress gave it at its inception in 1949- to "provide for the 

Government an economical and efficient system for (a) the procurement and supply of personal 

property and non personal services ... , (b) the utilization of available property; [and] (c) the 

disposal of surplus property." While I understand that Congress has amended this list over the 

years, it remains GSA's core objective to facilitate the missions of other Federal agencies by 

carrying out the functions enumerated by Congress in a way that demonstrates good 

stewardship of taxpayer money. 

In 2017, as government continues to modernize, I believe GSA's mission extends to providing 

contracts, buildings, technology, and other mission support services in an efficient and effective 

manner. If confirmed, it would be my responsibility to hold GSA to this mission and provide it 

with goals and strategies to advance support for other agencies and taxpayers. 
168 

To that end, there are four overarching priorities that I intend to focus on if confirmed. The first 

is to provide ethical leadership. The Office of Government Ethics recently sent a letter 

reminding us that "the citizens we serve deserve to have confidence in the integrity of their 

Government [but the] public's trust is not guaranteed." I will strive to earn that trust every day, 

by creating a culture within GSA that puts the taxpayer first, encourages a diversity of opinions, 

values the contributions all employees, and promotes a safe culture for reporting misconduct. 

My second priority is to reduce duplication. While progress has been made since I previously 

served at GSA, the agency still has opportunities to reduce duplication in its internal mission 

support services. II can also reduce duplication in its own systems, which will reduce barriers to 

entry for contractors, barriers to access for other agencies, and the risk associated with 

managing outdated systems. Within the Public Building Service, GSA should facilitate the 

disposal of unused or underutilized real property. Further, where appropriate, GSA should help 

other agencies reduce duplication by facilitating the adoption of shared services. 

Third, it is critical that the agency look for additional ways to increase competition. There are 

opportunities for GSA to do so at both the contract award level and at the task order level, both 

for its own internal contracts and on the contracts used by other agencies. In terms of real 

property, the leases for approximately 100 million square feet of leased office space are set to 

expire over the next five years, which is an incredible opportunity for GSA to work with Congress 

and its tenant agencies to get better deals. 

Finally, continued efforts to improve transparency are central to the agency's work. Taxpayers 

must have confidence that GSA always puts their interests first. Whether this means providing 

taxpayers access to the Federal Real Property Profile database, working to make more data 

available at data.gov, or improving the integration and usability of the System for Award 

Management/Integrated Award Environment, transparency will not only expose flaws and instill 

confidence, but it can also lead to increased competition, cost savings, informed policy making, 

and accountability. GSA can and should improve the quality, security, and accessibility of its 

data, while helping other agencies do the same. 

These guiding principles can be applied to nearly every facet of GSA's mission. They will 

provide a framework for addressing recommendations from the Government Accountability 

Office and IG. Most importantly, they are key to inspiring confidence in the agency from 

Congress, Federal agencies, those who do business with GSA, and from the American 

taxpayer. 

Thank you for the opportunity to be here today; if confirmed, I am excited about the opportunity 

to work with you and your staffs in this important role. I would be happy to take any questions 

you may have. 
169 

HSGAC BIOGRAPHICAL 

EXECUTIVE NOMINEES 

Please provide the following information. 

United States General 

Services Administration 

1 

FOR 
170 

Never Married Married Separated 

0 0 

First Name Middle Name Last Name 

n/a 

2 

Annulled 

0 

Divorced 

0 

Est 

Est 

a 

Widowed 

0 

Est 

Est 

a 
171 

2. Education 

List all post-secondary schools attended. 

Ty!)e of School Date Began I!a!eEnded 

School Nitine:of (vocational/technkalltrade ,school, School 

School coHegeJUPiverSity/military college,, . (moiith/year) (month/year) (check ~ 

~x. if ~s,ti~~i~) Degree cOrre,sPondenCe?d.istance(ext~nsionlonline Awarded (check box if 

. school) e·stirhate) ( ct;eck "present",~ox 

ifstill-ln. school 

Smith College Est E•t Present 

8/1991 D AB May 5/1995 n D College 1995 

Universit University (Smith College has Est Est Present 

yof a junior year abroad program 1011993 0 6/1994 0 D 

Geneva with the University of Geneva 

in Switzerland) 

Universit University Est E" Present 8/1998 D 5/2001 JD May D D 

y of 2001 

Virginia 

School of 

Law Est Est Present 

D D D 

3 
172 

3. Employment 

(A) List all of your employment activities, including unemployment and self-employment. 

If the employment activity was military duty, list separate employment activity periods to 

show each change of military duty station. Do not list employment before your 18th 

birthday unless to provide a minimum of two years of employment history. 

I.Yil£ !!!Em[!loxment 

(Active Military Duty Strition, Date 

N~ti?ni!l G~a_r~/Re~erve. Em[!lo:~:ment 

U~PHS 

Other .Rede~al 

C~rri~issioned 

emploYment. 

Corps, ~arne of Your 

Date ~ 

,Jll ost R eoent Location Em[!lo:~:ment (month/year) 

State Gl)yernment·(Non~ Empliwer/ Position (City and Began (check box if 

Federal Employment), Self· Assijl;ned Duh Titl~/Rank State (month/year) estimate) 

emplriyment,l!~employ,ment. Station only) (check box if (check 

Federal ~ont~C!or, 1':Jon~ estimate) "Present" box 

Got.:~rn~eitt Einpl':)yment if still 

(excluding self-employment), employed) 

Other 

Other Federal U.S. General Senior Was hi Est Est 

4/2017 q pr-esent 

employment Services Advisor ngton, 0 

Administration DC 

Other Federal US General Senior Was hi Est Est 

t/2017 0 4/l017 0 

employment Services Advisor ngton, 

Administration DC 

Other Federal Committee on Counsel Was hi Est Est 

512016 0 111017 0 

employment Armed Services, ngton, 

U.S. House of DC 

Representatives 

Other Federal Committee on Policy Was hi Est Est 

4/1011 0 5/ZOJ6 0 

employment Small Business, Director ngton, 

U.S. House of and Senior DC 

Representatives Counsel 

Federal Contractor Terre Star General Reston, 8/1007 "'' 0 412011 "'' 0 

National Counsel VA 

Services, and Vice 

Terre Star President 

Networks for 

Operations 

Self Employment Government President Arlingt Est ... 10/2008 Iii 312011 lila 

Procurement on, VA 

Services LLC 

Non-Government Miller& Counsel Was hi Est K'>t J/2007 0 7/2007 0 Employment Chevalier ngton, 

(excluding self- DC 

employmentl 

4 
173 

Unemployed Vacation nja Austin, E•t F.:u 

2/20"07 D 7/1007 D 

TXand 

Arlingt 

on, VA 

Other Federal U.S. General Chief Was hi Est Est 

2/2005 a l/201)7 

employment Services Acquisition ngton, 0 

Administration Officer DC 

Other Federal U.S. Small Senior Was hi ... F.st 

ln004 0 u:zOi)7 

employment Business Advisor for ngton, 0 

Administration Govern men DC 

t Contracts 

and 

Business 

Developme 

nt, Acting 

Associate 

Administra 

tor for 

Governmen 

t Contracts 

Non-Government Wiley Rein& Associate Was hi Est E•t 912001 0 1UlOOJ 0 

Employment Fielding LLC ngton, 

(excluding self- DC 

employment) 

Other Federal Committee on Profession a Was hi E" Est 

employment Small Business, 1 Staff 911999 0 snooo 0 

ngton, 

U.S. House of Member DC 

Re2resentatives 

Other Federal Committee on Profession a Was hi E5t E•t 

employment Small Business, I Staff ~/1999 0 811999 0 

ngton, 

U.S. House of Member DC 

Renresentatives 

Unemployed Vacation before nja France, 7/1998 8/1998 

starting law Germa 

school ny and 

Italy 

Other Federal Committee on Professiona Was hi E" ... 1/1997 0 7/1998 0 

employment Small Business, I Staff ngton, 

U.S. House of Member DC 

Renresentatives 

Non-Government Republican Assistant to Was hi E•t .. , l0/J995 0 1/1997 0 

Employment National the ngton, 

(excluding self- Committee Director of DC 

employment) Administra 

tion 

5 
174 

(B) List any advisory, consultative, honorary or other part-time service or positions with 

federal, state, or local governments, not listed elsewhere, 

4. 

(A) Describe any business relationship, dealing or financial transaction which you have had 

during the last 10 yea1·s, whether for yourself, on behalf of a client, or acting as an agent, 

that could in any way constitute or result in a possible conflict of interest in the position to 

which you have been nominated. 

From 2007 to 2011, I worked at Terre Star National ServicesjTerreStar Networks. 

Terre Star was a subcontractor to a vendor on the GSA schedules and was proposed as a 

6 
175 

potential subcontractor on the Networx vehicle. Terre Star is no longer in business and this 

should not pose any conflicts. 

Likewise, from 2010 to early 2011, I consulted with Zebra Technologies regarding a GSA 

schedule they held. I have had no contact with Zebra since 2011, and am not certain as to 

whether they still hold a GSA schedule contract, so I do not believe this will pose a conflict 

of interest. 

I will work with ethics officials at GSA to comply with all required conflict of interest laws. 

(B) Describe any activity during the past 10 years in which you have engaged for the 

purpose of directly or indirectly influencing the passage, defeat or modification of any 

legislation or affecting the administration or execution oflaw or public policy, other than 

while in a federal government capacity. 

While TerreStar employed lobbyists to address matters such as spectrum allocation, I did 

not engage in lobbying on its behalf. 

5. Honors and Awards 

List all scholarships, fellowships, honorary degrees, civilian service citations, military 

medals, academic or professional honors, honorary society memberships and any other 

special recognition for outstanding service or achievement. 

President's Award, 2013, Women Impacting Public Policy 

Champion of Small Business Innovation, 2016, Small Business Technology Council 

While not yet public, I've also been informed that I will be receiving the Montgomery 

County Chamber of Commerce's Government Partner of the Year Award in November. 

6. Memberships 

List all memberships that you have held in professional, social, business, fraternal, 

scholarly, civic, or charitable organizations in the last 10 years. 

Unless relevant to your nomination, you do NOT need to include memberships in 

charitable organizations available to the public as a result of a tax deductible donation of 

$1,000 or less, Parent-Teacher Associations or other organizations connected to schools 

attended by your children, athletic clubs or teams, automobile support organizations (such 

as AAA), discounts clubs (such as Groupon or Sam's Club), or affinity 

memberships/consumer clubs (such as frequent flyer memberships). 

7 
176 

To the best of my recollection, the list below includes all memberships I've held within the 

scope of this question. I know that private sector entities where I've worked also held 

memberships in associations, but unless listed below I do not recall any of these 

memberships and have no memory of attending meetings of these other organizations. 

Name ofOri:ariization Dates of Your MembershiQ Position(s) Held {You may ~apprOxi:R'tate;) 

International Association 2007 I agreed to serve as a board 

for Business and Health member, but the board 

never met and the entity 

dissolved. I'm disclosing 

this out of an abundance of 

caution. 

Villa Duchesne Oak Hill 1991-present Member 

Alumnae Association 

Smith College Alumnae 1995-present Member 

Association 

University of Virginia 2001-present Member 

School of Law Alumni 

Association 

American Bar Association's 2001-2010 (est). Member, Co-Chair and VicePublic Contract Law Section Chair of the Small Business 

and Other Socio-Economic 

Programs Committee 

National Contract 2016-present Member 

Management Association 

Women in Government Aprii2016-April 2017 Member 

Relations 

RightNOW January 2015 -January Member 

2016 

Professional Services 2007-2009 (est) TerreStar was the member 

Council of PSC, but I attended a few 

meetings on its behalf. 

Satellite Industry 2007-2009 {est) TcrreStar was the member 

Association of S!A. ! don't recall 

attending any meetings on 

its behalf, but wanted to 

disclose out of an 

abundance of caution. I'm 
177 

certain TerreStar had other 

memberships, but l don't 

recall being involved in any 

other trade association on 

its behalf. 

St. joseph's Catholic Church 2012-present Parishioner 

St. Charles Catholic Church 2001-2012 Parishioner 

Virginia State Bar 2001-present Member 

Association 

DC Bar Association 2002-present Member 

7. Political Activity 

(A) Have you ever been a candidate for or been elected or appointed to a political office? 

While I do not believe these are all necessarily within the scope ofthis question, I am 

providing a list of all positions in the Executive Branch to which I have been appointed. 

Year{s) Election 

Nanie•of<)ffice· ·. . Elected/Am;ointcd/ Held· or Term of Service 

Candidate Only· Am:~ointment (if applicable) .. Made· 

Senior Advisor, U.S. General Appointed April2017- Non Career SES 

Services Administration present 

White House Liaison, U.S. General Appointed January24, Non Career SES 

Services Administration 2017-April 

2017 

Chief Acquisition Officer, U.S. Appointed 2005-2007 Non Career SES 

General Services Administration 

Senior Advisor for Government Appointed 2004-2005 Schedule C 

Contracting and Business 

Development, Acting Associate 

Administrator for Government 

Contracting, U.S. Small Business 

Administration 

9 
178 

{B) List 

during tile 

otl'ices held in or services rendered to a political party or election committee 

ten years that you have not listed elsewhere. 

11/6/2012 

11/4/2008 

{C) Itemize all individual political contributions of$200 or more that you have made in the 

past five years to any individual, campaign organi:rAJtion, political party, political action 

committee, or similar entity. Please list each individual contribution and not the total 

amount contributed to the person or entity during the year. 

' .. ·. 'Name of Rel:i~ient .. 

~····· Yea;, 

nja 

··~ 

10 
179 

(A) List the titles, publishers and dates of books, articles, reports or other 

materials that you lta~·e written, including articles on the Internet. Please provide 

the Committee with copies of all listed publications. In lieu of hard copies, electmnic copies 

can be provided via e-mail or other digital format. 

While not strictly publications, l've attempted to compile all policy documents that were 

issued under my signature when ! previously served at GSA or SBA and listed them below. 

My ability to provide complete results is hampered by what the agencies have maintained 

on their websites. While! am unaware of any omission, l recognize that it is possible some 

documents were not maintained electronically or were not retrieved my search and 

will supplement this list if !locate other such publications. 

Use of GSA 300 for the GSA 

Acquisition of Utility 

Services 

11 
180 

Fiscal Year 05 Cut-Off Dates GSA July 18, 2005 

for Assisted Acquisitions 

Suspension of the Price GSA March 7, 2006 

Evaluation Adjustment for 

Small Disadvantaged 

Businesses 

Comprehensive Review of GSA February17, 2006 

theGSAR 

Suspension of the Price SBA December 22, 2004 

Evaluation Adjustment for 

Small Disadvantaged 

Businesses at Civilian 

Agencies 

Class Deviations Applicable GSA October 14, 2005 

to Acquisitions for 

Hurricane Katrina Rescue 

and Relief Efforts 

Applicability of Homeland GSA February 3, 2006 

Security Presidential 

Directive (HSPD) 12 to GSA 

Contracting Activities 

Transfer of Contracts to GSA January 9, 2006 

FEMA 

Training Requirements for GSA June 27, 2005 

Realty Leasing Contracting 

Officers 

SOP 60 02 6 SBA October 8, 2004 

(B) List any formal speeches you have delivered during the last five years and provide the 

Committee with copies of those speeches relevant to the position for which you have been 

nominated. Include any testimony to Congress or any other legislative or administrative 

body. These items can be provided electronically via e-mail or other digital format. 

While working for the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Armed Services 

of the House of Representatives, I frequently gave briefings and talks about contracting 

reform to support legislation introduced by my Chairman or favorably reported by the 

12 
181 

Committee, and these might be viewed as formal speeches. However, I did not write out my 

speeches or keep notes of these speeches, and did not keep a list of the events. The events 

referenced below are my best attempt at documenting these events. I will supplement this 

list if !locate other relevant information. 

Title/Togic Place/Audience Date(s) of Sneech 

GSA: Is the Taxpayer Getting U.S. Senate, Subcommittee july 26, 2005 

the Best Deal? on Federal Financial 

Management, 

Government Information, 

and International Security, 

of the Committee on 

Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, 

Washington, DC. 

Sifting Through Katrina's U.S. House of May4, 2006 

Legal Debris: Contracting in Representatives, 

the Eye of the Storm Committee on Government 

Reform, 

Washington, DC. 

Expanding Small U.S. House of April19, 2007 

Businesses' Access to Representatives, 

Federal Contracts Committee on Small 

Business, 

Washington, DC. 

Challenges Facing Women- U.S. Senate, Committee on October 3, 2006 

Owned Small Businesses in Small Business and 

Government Contracting Entrepreneurship, Field 

(I've been unable to locate a Hearing held by Senator 

copy of the transcript from George Allen, Fairfax, VA. 

this event, but have 

included a copy of my 

i prepared statement.) 

Career Advice Washington DC J CXO July 11, 2017 

Fellows 

Contracting Reform Washington DC j VET-Force I believe I spoke with VET-

(consortium of Force annually between 

organizations representing 2011 and 2016 

veterans) 

13 
182 

Contracting Reform Arlington, VA I Army 2016. I'm unsure of the 

(panel) Procurement Executives date, but know I spoke to 

this group as part of their 

trainine: conference 

Congressional Tysons Corner I Coalition November 17, 2016 

Panel: Acquisition Reform for Government 

Redux Procurement (CGP) Fall 

Training Conference 

Contracting Reform Tysons Corner I AFCEA November 4, 2016 

Nova Enterprise 

Information Small Business 

Forum 

Media and Politics in San Francisco I Public August 4, 2016 

Government Contracting Contract Law Section of the 

(panel) American Bar Association 

(ABA), Annual Conference 

Contracting Reform Washington DC I ACEC july 27, 2016; january 21, 

Federal Agencies 2015; February 2014; 

Procurement Advocacy 

Committee 

Contracting Reform Washington DC I july 8, 2016 (I believe I 

Professional Services spoke to the Government 

Council (PSC) Government Affairs Council on an annual 

Affairs Council basis between 2011 and 

2016,butcannotfindthe 

exact dates) 

Small Business Regulation Bethesda MD I Montgomery May 12, 2016; May 16, 

Updates (panel) County Chamber of 2014 

Commerce GovConNet 

Procurement Conference 

The "To Do" List for Tysons Corner VA I CGP April28, 2016 

Acquisition Reform (panel) Spring Training Conference 

Contracting Reform Association of Procurement April 2016(est) 

(panel) Technical Assistance 

Centers 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I Mid Tier March 23, 2016 

(briefing) Advocacy 

Contracting Reform Washington DC I US March 16,2016 

(panel) Women's Chamber of 

Commerce National Small 

Business Federal 

Contracting Summit 

14 
183 

Oversight Topics with Washington DC /ABA February 25, 2016 

Respect to the SBA Commercial Products and 

Services Committee 

Contracting Reform Washington DC/ Veterans February 22, 2016 (est); 

Employment and Education February 2015 

Commission Forum, 

American Legion 

Contracting Reform Washington DC / National December 15, 2015 

(panel) Contract Management 

Association (NCMA) 

Government Contract 

Management Symposium 

2015 

Contracting Reform Tysons Corner, VA /Small November 2015 

Business Development 

Consortium 

Contracting Reform Falls Church, VA/ PSC 2015 November 18, 2015 

(panel) Vision Conference 

Contracting Reform Springfield, VA/ ND!A September 24, 2015; 

(panel) Annual National Small September 10, 2014; 

Business Conference September 25, 2013 

(I believe I also spoke at the 

2016 conference, but 

cannot find a date or any 

record of itl 

Career Advice (panel): Washington, DC I Women's July 11, 2015 

Congressional Staff 

Association (WCSA) 6th 

Annual Summer Conference 

Contracting Reform Arlington VA / Eastern I believe I spoke with this 

Foundry (government group in the spring or 

contracting incubator) summerof2015 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC / National June 2015 

Issues Conference, 

Campaign for Quality 

Construction 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC /Women April 21, 2015 

Construction Owners & 

Executives 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC October 14, 2014 

/Association of the United 

States Army 

15 
184 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I October 14, 2014 

(panel) Association of the United 

States Army 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I July 24, 2014 

Associated General 

Contractors Federal 

Contractors Conference 

Contracting Reform Tysons Corner, VA I CGP July 23, 2014 

Small Business Forum 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I American April2014 

Council for TechnologyIndustry Advisory Council's 

Small Business Conference 

Contracting Reform Baltimore, MD I Society of March 19, 2014 

American Military 

Engineers 

Contracting Reform Annapolis, MD I ABA March 12,2014 (approx.): 

Federal Procurement 

Institute 2014 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I ABA February 20, 2014 

Small Business and Other 

Socia Economic Committee 

meeting 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I National 2013;2014;November 

Association of Surety Bond 2012-1 am unsure ofwhen 

Producers these events took place, but 

know I spoke during at 

least three of their 

conferences 

Contracting Reform Tysons Corner, VA I CGP October 30, 2013 

Fall Training Conference 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I Women October 9 or 10, 2013. I 

Impacting Public Policy may have spoken to this 

Annual Leadership Meeting group on other occasions, 

but I am unsure of the 

dates. 

Contracting Reform Arlington, VA I Multiple July 11, 2013; July 27, 2012 

Award Government & 

Industry Conference 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I Federal March 2013, May 2012- I 

Allies Institute may have spoken to this 

group on other occasions, 

but I am unsure of the dates 

16 
185 

Changes to Federal Teleconference j Women February 13,2013 

Procurement Policy Impacting Public Policy 

Contracting Reform SECAF Legislative and February 5, 2013 

Regulatory Committee 

Educational Program 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I National November 2012 

Small Business Association 

Congress 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I San I believe spoke to this 

Antonio Chamber of group annually between 

Commerce 2012 and 2016, but am not 

certain of the dates 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I Warren I spoke to this group in the 

County Chamber of springof2016, but am 

Commerce unsure of the date 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I Dayton I spoke to this group in 

Area Chamber of Commerce 2015, but am unsure of the 

date 

Contracting Reform National Veterans Small I spoke to this group during 

Business Coalition my tenure with the Small 

Business Committee, but 

am unsure of the date 

Contracting Reform Tysons Corner, VA I I spoke to this group at 

Northern Virginia least once during my tenure 

Technology Council with the Small Business 

Committee, but am unsure 

of the datefs) 

Contracting Reform I spoke to this group at 

Arlington, VA I National least once during my tenure 

B(a) Association with the Small Business 

Committee, but am unsure 

of the date(s) 

Contracting Reform Dulles, VA/ HUBZone I spoke to this group at 

National Council least once during my tenure 

with the Small Business 

Committee, but am unsure 

of the date(s1 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC I Council I spoke to this group at 

on Federal Procurement of least once during my tenure 

Architectural and with the Small Business 

Engineering Services Committee, but am unsure 

of the date(sl 

17 
186 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC/ National I spoke to this group 

Association of Small several times during my 

Disadvantaged Businesses tenure with the Small 

Business Committee, but 

am unsure of the datefs) 

Contracting Reform Arlington, VA/ TechAmerica 2011-2013- I would speak 

either individually or as a 

part of a panel to this 

group,butcannotflnd 

records of the dates 

Contracting Reform Washington DC and 2014-2017- I would speak 

Middleburg VA/ IT Alliance either individually or as a 

for the Public Sector part of a panel to this 

group, but cannot find 

records of the dates 

Contracting Reform Arlington, VA/ National I spoke to this group 

Association of Women several times during my 

Business Owners tenure with the Small 

Business Committee, but 

am unsure of the date(s) 

(C) List all speeches and testimony you have delivered in the past ten years, except for 

those the text of which you are providing to the Committee. 

The following is a list of speeches and testimony, other than the "formal" speeches listed 

above, which I believe is responsive to this question. However, as with the formal speeches, 

I did not keep a list of these talks, so the events referenced below are my best attempt at 

documenting these events. I will supplement this list if I locate other relevant information. 

Title Plac~/ Audience Date(s} of Slleech 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC/ National November 2012 

Small Business Association 

Congress 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC j Army Aug. 2, 2012 

Small Business Conference 

Contracting Reform Nashville, TN j DoD Small july 2012 

Business Training 

Conference 

Contracting Reform Arlington, VA j Multiple july 11, 2013; july 27, 2012 

Award Government & 

Industry Conference 

18 
187 

U.S. Economy and African- Washington, DC/ Forum june 18,2012 

American Community hosted by Rep. Allan West 

(pan ell 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC/ May 2012 

ChallengerHER 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC /San I believe spoke to this group 

Antonio Chamber of annually between 2012 and 

Commerce 2016, but am not certain of 

the dates 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC/ Dayton I spoke to this group in 

Area Chamber of Commerce 2015, but am unsure of the 

date 

Contracting Reform National Veterans Small l spoke to this group during 

Business Coalition my tenure with the Small 

Business Committee, but 

am unsure of the date 

Contracting Reform Tysons Corner, VA I I spoke to this group at least 

Northern Virginia once during my tenure with 

Technology Council the Small Business 

Committee, but am unsure 

of the date( s) 

Contracting Reform I spoke to this group at least 

Arlington, VA/ National once during my tenure with 

B(a) Association the Small Business 

Committee, but am unsure 

of the date( s) 

Contracting Reform Dulles, VA/ HUBZone l spoke to this group at least 

National Council once during my tenure with 

the Small Business 

Committee, but am unsure 

of the datefs1 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC / Council I spoke to this group at least 

on Federal Procurement of once during my tenure with 

Architectural and the Small Business 

Engineering Services Committee, but am unsure 

of the date( s) 

Contracting Reform Washington, DC / National I spoke to this group several 

Association of Small times during my tenure 

Disadvantaged Businesses with the Small Business 

Committee, but am unsure 

of the date(s) 

Contracting Reform Arlington, VA/ TechAmerica 2011-2013-1 would speak 

either individually or as a 

nart of a nanel to this group, 

19 
188 

but cannot find records of 

the dates 

Contracting Reform Arlington, VA/ National I spoke to this group several 

Association of Women times during my tenure 

with the Small Business 

Committee, but am unsure 

of the datefs) 

9. Criminal History 

Since (and including) your 18111 birthday, has any of the following happened? 

Have you been issued a summons, citation, or ticket to appear in court in a criminal proceeding against you? 

(Exclude citations involving traffic infractions where the tine was less than $300 and did not include alcohol or 

drugs.) No. 

Have you been arrested by any police officer, sheriff, marshal or any other type of law enforcement official? 

No. 

Have you been charged, convicted, or sentenced of a crime in any comt? 

No. 

Have you been or are you currently on probation or parole? 

No. 

Are you currently on trial or awaiting a trial on criminal charges? 

20 
189 

No. 

To your knowledge, have you ever been the subject or target of a federal, state or local criminal investigation? 

No. 

If the answer to any of the questions above is yes, please answer the questions below for 

each criminal event (citation, arrest, investigation, etc.). If the event was an investigation, 

where the question below asks for information about the offense, please offer information 

about the offense under investigation (if known). 

Not applicable. 

A) Date of offense: 

a. Is this an estimate (Yes/No): 

B) Description of the specific nature of the offense: 

C) Did the offense involve any of the following? 

l) Domestic violence or a crime of violence (such as battery or assault) against your child, dependent, 

cohabitant, spouse, former spouscj or someone with whom you share a child in common: Yes I No 

2) Firearms or explosives: Yes I No 

3) Alcohol or drugs: Yes I No 

D) Location where the offense occurred (cily, county, state, zip code, country): 

E) Were you arrested, summoned, cited or did you receive a ticket to appear as a result of this offense by any 

police officer, sheriff, marshal or any other type of law enforcement official: Yes I No 

1) Name of the law enforcement agency that arrested/cited/summoned you: 

2) Location of the law enforcement agency (city, county, state, zip code, country): 

F) As a result of this offense were you charged, convicted, currently awaiting trial, and/or ordered to appear in 

court in a criminal proceeding against you: Yes I No 

I) If yes, provide the name of the court and the location of the court (city, county, state, zip code, 

country): 

2) If yes, provide all the charges brought against you for this offense, and the outcome of each charged 

offense (such as found guilty, found not-guilty, charge dropped or "nolle pros," etc). If you were found 

guilty of or pleaded guilty to a lesser offense, list separately both the original charge and the lesser 

offense: 

3) If no, provide explanation: 

G) Were you sentenced as a result of this offense: Yes I No 

H) Provide a description of the sentence: 

21 
190 

I) Were you sentenced to imprisonment for a term exceeding one year: Yes I No 

J) Were you incarcerated as a result of that sentence for not less than one year: Yes I No 

K) If the conviction resulted in imprisonment, provide the dates that you actually were incarcerated: 

L) If conviction resulted in probation or parole, provide the dates of probation or parole: 

M) Are you currently on trial, awaiting a trial, or awaiting sentencing on criminal charges for this offense: Yes 1 

No 

N) Provide explanation: 

22 
191 

10. Civil Litigation and Administrative or Legislative Proceedings 

(A) Since (and including) your 18th birthday, have you been a party ~o any public rec~rd 

civil court action or administrative or legislative proceeding of any kmd that resulted m (1) 

a finding of wrongdoing against you, or (2) a settlement agreement for you, or some other 

person or entity, to make a payment to settle allegations against you, or for you to take, or 

refrain from taking, some action. Do NOT include small claims proceedings. 

No. 

Date Claim/Suit 

Was Filed or 

Legislative 

Prot:e·eaing·s 

IJegan 

n/a 

Name(s)of 

Principal Parties 

InvOlved in 

A:ction/Proceeding, ' 

Natmie of Action/Proceeding , Resultsof 

ActionfprOceetfing 

(B) In addition to those listed above, have you or any business of which you were an officer, 

director or owner ever been involved as a party of interest in any administrative agency 

proceeding or civil litigation'? Please identify and provide details for any proceedings or 

civil litigation that involve actions taken or omitted by you, or alleged to have been taken or 

omitted by you, while serving in your official capacity. 

Name(s} of 

Court PrinciQal PSrties' Nature of Action/Proceeding riate:Ciaim/Suit NAme , Inv(iJ'vea~in Results: or Was~'!led ACtion/Proceeding . ~£IJ2n!PI-oceeding ' 

Pursuant to 29 A court McGill vthe Upon completion of the A February 27, 

CFR § 1614, a name is General investigation, the 2008, final 

formal not Services complainant requested agency decision 

complaint of applicabl Administration; an immediate final (FAD) on the 

discrimination e in this decision from GSA in merits issued by 

instance. GSA's Office of 

23 

I 
192 

was filed on The Theresa McGill, accordance with 29 CFR Civil Rights 

March 2, 2007 complaint complainant § 1614.110(b). found no 

was discrimination 

processed Emily Murphy, on each of the 

by the alleged issues in the 

GSAEEO responsible complaint. 

program. management 

official (RMO) 

(C) For responses to the previous question, please identify and provide details for any 

proceedings or civil litigation that involve actions taken or omitted by you, or alleged to 

have been taken or omitted by you, while serving in your official capacity. 

Please see the attached letter from GSA dated June 2, 2017, from Lennard Loewentritt, 

Deputy General Counsel, U.S. General Services Administration. 

To ensure that I have fully and completely answered these questions, I previously 

requested both agencies where I have worked to search their records. The information 

they identified as responsive is included above, and to the best of my knowledge, there are 

no other responsive answers. However, in an abundance of caution, I'm attaching the 

letters I received from each agency so the Committee will be fully informed. 

11. Breach of Professional Ethics 

(A) Have you ever been disciplined or cited for a breach of ethics or unprofessional conduct 

by, or been the subject of a complaint to, any court, administrative agency, professional 

association, disciplinary committee, or other professional group? Exclude cases and 

proceedings ah'eady listed. 

No. 

Agency/ ~ 

AssoCiation/ 

·comfuiitee/Grorip 

.!.!!llil 

CitiltiOnffiisCipliitarv 

. Action/Complaint 

Issued/Initiated 

Describe. Citation/Disciplinary 

.Action/Complaint 

24 

Results of Disciplinary 

Action/Complaint 
193 

n/a 

(B) Have you ever been fired from a job, quit a job after being told you would be fired, left 

a job by mutual agreement following charges or allegations of misconduct, left a Job by 

mutual agreement following notice of unsatisfactory performance, or received a written 

warning, been officially reprimanded, suspended, or disciplined for misconduct in the 

workplace, such as violation of a security policy? 

No. 

12. Tax Compliance 

(This information will not be published in the record of the hearing on your nomination, 

but it will be retained in th~ Committee's files and will be available for public inspection.) 

RED A ClEO 
194 

REDACTED 

13. Lobbying 

In the past ten years, have you registered as a lobbyist? If so, please indicate the state, 

federal, or local bodies with which you have registered (e.g., House, Senate, California 

Secretary of State), 

No, l have not registered as a lobbyist in the past ten years. 

14. Outside Positions 

0 See OGE Form 278. (If, for your nomination, you have completed an OGE Form 278 

Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report, you may check the box here to 

complete this section and then proceed to the next section.) 

For the preceding ten calendar years and the current calendar year, report any positions 

held, whether compensated or not. Positions include but are not limited to those of an 

officer, director, trust!le, general partner, proprietor, representative, employee, or 

consultant of any corporation, firm, partnership, or other business enterprise or any nonprofit organization or educational institution.~ positions with religious, social, 

fraternal, or political entities and those solely of an honorary nature. 

27 
195 

.. 

Name of . Addr.Ss of 

O~On Orf::anizatiOn 

Ilm!Ulf . 'Organization 

.{ c?rp~ration~ fi~~ , 

pa.rtne~hip, o!Jler 

brisinCss·ehter}Jrise,_ Position- Held 

other ~on~prafit· 

ontanization, 

eduC!ltiona1 

inStitutiOn) 

Position Held Position 

From HeldTo 

(month/year) . (month/year) 

15. Agreements or Arrangements 

0 See OGE Form 278. (If, for your nomination, you have completed an OGE Form 278 

Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report, you may check the box here to 

complete this section and then proceed to the next section.) 

As of the date of filing your OGE Form 278, report your agreements or arrangements for: 

(1) continuing participation in an employee benefit plan (e.g. pension, 401k, deferred 

compensation); (2) continuation of payment by a former employer (including severance 

payments); (3) leaves of absence; and (4) future employment. 

Provide information regarding any agreements or arrangements you have concerning (1) 

future employment; (2) a leave of absence during your period of Government service; (3) 

continuation of payments by a former employer other than the United States Government; 

and (4) continuing participation in an employee welfare or benefit plan maintained by a 

former employer other than United States Government retirement benefits. 

28 
196 

16. Additional Financial Data 

All information requested under this heading must be provided for yourself, your spouse, 

and your dependents. (This Information will not be published in the record of the hearing 

on your nomination, but it will be retained in the Committee's files and will be available for 

public inspection.) 

REDACTED 
197 

SIGNATURE AND DATE 

I hereby state that I have rend the foregoing Statement on Biographical and Financial 

Information and that the information provided therein is, to the best of my knowledge, 

current, accurate, and complete. 

This 5th day of September, 2017 
198 

UNITED STATES OFFICE OF 

GOVERNMENT ETHICS 

REDACTED 

* -----------·---·-···-------··-·-

The Honorable Ron Johnson 

Chainnan 

Committee on Homeland Security 

and Governmental Atfairs 

United States Senate 

Washington, DC 205 I 0 

Dear Mr. Chainnan: 

September I 2, 2017 

In accordance with the Ethics in Government Act oft 978, I enclose a copy of the 

financial disclosure repot1 filed by Emily Murphy, who has been nominated by President Trump 

for the position of Administrator, General Services Administration. 

We have reviewed the report and have obtained advice ti·om the agency concerning any 

possible conflict in light of its functions and the nominee's proposed duties. Also enclosed is an 

ethics agreement outlining the actions that the nominee willundetiake to avoid conflicts of 

interest. Unless a date for compliance is indic1:1ted in the ethics 1:1grcement, the nominee must 

fully comply within three months of confirmation with any action specified in the ethics 

agreement. 

Based thereon, we believe that this nominee is in compliance with applicable laws and 

regulations governing conflicts of interest 

Sincerely, 

David J, A pol 

Acting Director and Genera! Counsel 

Enclosures REDACTED 

---~--------· --------- * * * * 1201 NEW YORK AVE NW•SUITE SOO•WASH!NGTON DC·20005 
199 

Richard Beckler 

Designated Agency Ethics Official 

General Services Administration 

Office of General Counsel 

1800 F Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20405 

Dear Mr. Beckler: 

July 6, 2017 

The purpose of this letter is to describe the steps that I will take to avoid any actual or 

apparent conflict of interest in the event that! am confirmed for the position of Administrator, 

General Services Administration. 

As required by 18 U ,S.C. § 208(a), I will not participate personally and substantially in 

any particular matter in which I know that l have a financial interest directly and predictably 

affected by the matter, or in which l know that a person whose interests are imputed to me has a 

financial interest directly and predictably affected by the matter, unless I first obtain a written 

waiver, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(l), or qualify for a regulatory exemption, pursuant to 

18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(2). I understand that the interests of the following persons are imputed to 

me: any spouse or minor child of mine; any general partner of a partnership in which I am a 

limited or general partner; any organization in which I serve as officer, director, trustee, general 

partner or employee; and any person or organization with which I am negotiating or have an 

arrangement concerning prospective employment. 

I will retain my positions as trustee ofthe EWM Living Trust and trustee of the 2014 

EWM Trust. I will not receive any fees for the services that I provide as a trustee during my 

appointment to the position of Administrator. I will not participate personally and substantially 

in any particular matter that to my knowledge has a direct und predictable effect on the financial 

interests of either of these trusts, unless I first obtain a written waiver, pursuant to 18 U.S. C. 

§ 208(b)(l), or qualify for a regulatory exemption, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(2). 

I have previously resigned from my position as trustee of the JJM, III Revocable Living 

Trust. For a period of one year after my resignation, I will not participate personally and 

substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I know JJM, III 

Revocable Living Trust is a party or represents a party, unless lam first authorized to participate, 

pursuant to 5 C.F.R. § 2635.502(d). 

If I have a managed account or otherwise use the services of an investment professional 

during my appointment, I will ensure that the account manager or investment professional 

obtains my prior approval on a case-by-case basis for the purchase of any assets other than cash, 

cash equivalents, investment funds that qualify for the exemption at 5 C.F.R. § 2640.20 I (a), or 

obligations of the United States. 
200 

l understand that as an appointee I must continue to abide by the Ethics Pledge (Exec. 

Order No. 13770) that I previously signed and that l will be bound by the requirements and 

restrictions therein in addition to the commitments I have made in this ethics agreement. 

I will meet in person with you during the first week of my service in the position of 

Administrator in order to complete the initial ethics briefing required under 5 C.F.R. § 2638.305. 

Within 90 days of my confirmation, I will document my compliance with this ethics agreement 

by notifying you in writing when I have completed the steps described in this ethics agreement. 

I have been advised thal this ethics agreement will be posted publicly, consistent with 

5 U.S.C. § 552, on the website of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics with ethics agreements 

of other Presidential nominees who file public financial disclosure reports. 

Sincerely, 

~~ 
201 

U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

Pre-Hearing Questionnaire 

For the Nomination of Emily Murphy to be 

Administrator, General Services Administration 

I. Nomination Process and Conflicts oflnterest 

I. Did the President give you specific reasons why he nominated you to be the next 

Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA)? 

\o 

2. Were any conditions, expressed or implied, attached to your nomination? If so, please 

explain. 

:'\1<) 

3. Have you made any commitments with respect to the policies and principles you will 

attempt to implement as Administrator? If so, what are they, and to whom were the 

commitments made? 

;..Jo, 

4. Are you aware of any business relationship, dealing, or financial transaction that could 

result in a possible conflict of interest for you or the appearance of a conflict of interest? 

If so, please explain what procedures you will use to recuse yourself or otherwise address 

the conflict. And if you will recuse yourself, explain how you will ensure your 

responsibilities are not affected by your recusal. 

II. Background of the Nominee 

i. What specific background, experience, and attributes qualify you to be Administrator? 

I first began working on federal protur~mcnt issues in !097, as staff to the Small Business 

Commillee of the US House of Rcprcsentatiws. In the int~rvening 20 ycars, I've continu~d 

working on acquisition bsu;;s il'om a variety or perspectives: an anomcy practicing 

government contracts law, as an appoinh:c at the Small Business Administration and the GSA, in 

house with a srart up company pursuing federal contracts, and a professional staff 

nwmbcr/counsd for four fuli Committee chaimwn and numerous Subcommittee Chairmen. This 

has allowed me I he opportunity to omkrstand the pcrspc'ctivcs of GSA's customer agencies. 

vendors, and oversight community. Togc'thcr witbmy pas! experience impkmcnting rcfbnns 

within GSA and my commitment to good stewardship of taxpayer rcsllurccs, hclicvc my 

lxKkground provide's a solid fmmdnlion to s~rvc: n,; GSA Administrator. 

6. Based on the answers provided in your biographical questionnaire, it appears that you 

worked for both the Small Business Administration and GSA at the same ttme between 

2005 and 2007. Is that correct? If so, please explain. If not, please clarify your response. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 1 
202 

! .served at the Small Busmcss Admm1stration !SBAJ from January 2004 \lnlil February 2005, 

and served at GSA from February 2005 until February 2007. l was never employed 

snnultGncously by SflA ancl GSA. 

7. Please describe: 

a, Your current and any previous positions at the General Services Administration 

including your title, responsibilities, key projects, and reporting structure. 

Sine~ April ofth1s yc1ar, l have hec11 serving as a Senwr Advi,or ro the Acting Adm\nistru!or 

OSA. !n1his rot~. ! r.:port dirccily lo Tun Horne, the Acting Ad111inistrnlor. research topics 

rc!cnmt 10 GSA in onkr to pro\ ide Mr. Home with insights. These ;rri) mnma!ly acquisition 

rcl,Hed issues. such as the merger ol the Federal Acquisition ServJcc: and the Technology 

Tnmst(mmrtion Scrvio:. the imp!cmcnration of the tran:;actional data rule. or oppnrtunine:; to 

improve h<m GSA facilitates pun;lws~;s ofteebnology. 

From January 24, 2017 until ApriL I served as the White House Liaison at GSA. In tlus role. l 

reported to thcn-Scnwr While !lou;;~.~ Adv15or. Jack St. John. l rcs,:ardu:d topics tlJr Mr. Sr. John 

and Acting Adrmm>i!JalOr Home m order to provide thl'm with insight~. primarily on acquisition 

lSSUCS. 

From Fcbru,try 2005 until 2007. l ~en cd ~s the Chief Acquisition Oflkcr ut GSA. !n 

tlh\1 role,! rcpmlcd tolothc of Staff ,md the Admini,lmlnr. A\ lhl' Cllief i\cqui:;llton 

Of!kcr. ! led GSA's rcspousc to <:ombmcd GSA and Dcp.~rlmcnl of Dcfcn>c .1t:di1~ regarding usc 

or funds and compliance willl procur;cmcnt n.tks. ! also worked on GSA's imcrmll 

acquisitwn n,,gulations to better addn::ss the procurement nf sernccs. tn;;:titmcd proc'l!l'Cment 

man:tgcm.:nt re\icw proce;,s to pr·:l'mptively i1knlify problems with :md 

adminisle:cd to ,1Ccpisltton wmk\i)rcc trainmg fund to incn:a::.c tile amount of pmfe<;smnal 

rkvc!opmcnt avaih1blc 10 contriiCt 'pccra!ists. 

b. Your leadership and management style. 

! strive to lead with integrity. crcnti\ iry. nnd lllirncss, valuing my colleagues and their c<:pcrt:sc, 

cspecral!y when they can ofter differing puspecti;es thai help m reach u better deci<wn or plot :1 

bcncr course of ncuon. Problems should be brought 10 light qukkly so they c,m b~: addressed 

promptly. ln order to create en\ ironmcnl where employee:; speak up. try to roster ,r culture 

that promotes frJnk and open dmloguc. I inn cnllaborath c fashion pnoritic' 

.md direction. empowers employees. and set; de;1r p~r!lmnance standards, hut understand that 1 f 

~:onl!rmcd l \\ dlu!timatdy be accountable to this Comn111h:c. Congress, and the taxpayers for 

!he dcdstons reach~d. 

c. Your experience managing personneL 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 2 
203 

The first individuals l manag~d 11cr~ volunteers ll1 college, where l helped organize a local girl 

scout troop, and where l abo man~gcd shrf\s at a coffi:e >hop on campus that raised money to 

support the school's volunteer acti1 riles. Since !hen, I\ c mam.rgcd approximardy 140 

employees at SBA, who were dtspcrscd mw seven drftercnt oftlccs. As the Chief 

Officer at GSA, l 11 as responsible !or about I 00 employees nationwi<k, in addition to sc1 era I 

groups detailed to rny office, and worked In Hnprovc the career pal h. crr:dcnl!,rhng process. and 

educational opportumtrcs for all members nf the acqUI<Hion workforce at the agency. TcrrcStar. 

hcmg a start up. did not hrl\ c many employee;, but l did manage se\ era! contractors. [v!nst 

recently, as the Policy Director tor the the Small Busines,; Cnmmittee. I mrnwgcd the mdh rdua!,; 

on the policy ream. 

d. What is the largest number of people that have worked under you? 

Tbc largest number of people who hn•e worked under me is 140. 

8. Please describe: 

a. The circumstances of your departure from TerreStar National Services/TerreStar 

Networks. 

In 2011. Congres'iman Smn Gra,cs became Chmnmm of the HoHsc Small Business Commin~:c 

and was lookmg lor >omeonc to \\ ork on gm"ernmeni contracting is~ucs. A rormer chid 

counsd i'or the Commlltcc recommended me. and alicr the norm:ll interview pnxc'SS. they 

offered me a JOb as sent or counsel w the Curmmttce. At tlrnt point. ! tendered my resignation to 

TcrrcStar nnd returned to the Hill. 

b. The circumstances ofTcrrcStar National Serviccs!TerrcStar Networks bankruptcy and 

your role in that process. 

Terre Star Corporation w:rs the parent comp<~ny of Terre Star Ncrworks, which''"' in turn the 

parent company ofTcrrcStar National Sen ices. Tcm~St<~r Corporation filed lor bankruptcy in 

October of10!0. I had no role in TcneStar Corporatmn's dcc1sron to !lie for bankruptcy. As 

TerreS1ar National Scrvrct>S had no 0\'- worship interest Ill the asset' of either parcm company- the 

spectrum license, the satclliws. and the mtcllectual pmp0ny l had nn re,ponsibil!tics in the 

b"nkruptcy procc:;s, and was only pro' idcd av,libblc inlormation throughout the 

proceedings. 

9. Based on the answers provided in your biographical questionnaire, it appears that you 

were self-employed as the President of Government Procurement Services during your 

time at Terrestar National Services between 2008 and 2011. Is this correct? If not, please 

clarify your response. If so, please describe the nature of your work at Government 

Procurement Services LLC. 

This IS correct. While l was\\ ith Tcn·eSt.tr, it permitted its employees to engage Ill OlliS Ide 

c,msulting as long as there was not a con !lie! of mterest with the company. My direct supervisor 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 3 
204 

therefore crH:oumged me to form n LLC, wll!ch I did in 2008 nnd which l allowed to lapse when 

! r-.:turned to govcnunen! in 20 I L Th~ LLC was never very but provided a context for me 

to con,;ul! with n small number or cump,rmcs exploring tltc lcdcralmnrkcrpl<~cc. lV!ost o!icn, llHs 

meant performing market research !o help them undcr.>tand the addressable marketplace. uml 

wh1ch agem:ics were most likely to be mtcrc>tcd in !.heir sen· lees. ln one case, I helped 

company improve its subcontr,rctmg pl.m. In another ca,e. I helped a company improve l!~ 

control processes. The LLC never proVI(kd substantial income, nml did not mlcrCcn: wrth 

"ork tor Tcrn:Star. 

III. Role of the Administrator- GSA 

LO. What do you consider to be the mission of GSA, and what would you consider to be your 

role and responsibilities if confirmed as the Administrator? 

.\s someone who has spcm moo.! of my career workmg for Congress. I hclicvc it is GSA's 

!lH>Sillll to fulfill the ch;ugc Congr.:'>s gave 11 111 l lJ-It) · \0 "provide I(Jr the GO\ em men! an 

CCOilOHHC,ll .. md ctlktcnt system f(Jr {a) the procur~I\1Clll and c;upp\y of pcrson<rl pWfl(;fiy 

nonpcr;.;onal servtccs .. ; (b) the u!ilizatmn o!' av;nbblc pmpcr!y; [and] (c) the dr>posal of' 

'.urplus property" While l nndcr:;t,md ,uncndcd this l1s1 I 

con~ider!! GSA~s core nllSSH1n lo tht: ag~nclt.'{) by out 

funct1011; Cl1\lnl01'Dted by \lut dcnJOn;lnte'i SIC\\ ,m!chip of !a\.fKIYc'l 

mon.:y. ln 20!7, I believe mc,rns more clikientiy pro1!dmg contracls. bulldmg~. 

technology. and other 'lil'>JOil <.uppon scrvt<-cs in efiictent and eftcc!l\c manner. 

conlinm~d. I! would be my rc,pon~ibihly to hold CIS A lo Hw; mtS>ion and prm ide I! with goals 

and strategies to adv,mce '.dppon !'01 other age!ICJCS and laxp:Jycrs. 

l L What do you anticipate will be your greatest challenges as GSA Administrator, and what 

will be your top priorities? What do you hope to accomplish during your tenure? 

lfconlinncd,! anticipak th;ltmy grcal0st dEllkngc 11iil be 1111proving federal real proptcr!y 

manng~mcnt, which has been 1d~ntilkd by the Govcnunent Accountability Ofnce (GAO) a; pan 

of rts 111gb Risk list. Speciikally, this include-, tmprovmg th.c management of real properly by 

disposing ofunusc'd or undcrutihzt:d proper!). ensuring thai there is tlw appropriate balance 

bctw,-cn owned and rented spa..:c. appropn:tldy pmt..:cting !ctkral property. and tmproving 

the data on federal real property lmldmgs. funh<:r. the GSA Inspector Gencml h<1s idcnti!icd !,I 

m:~nagcmc:nt ch:llkng<:s. While! belic>e (!SA is making work r;:nmins b,, 

lfconllrmcd, my !tlp priority would be to provi\k ethi-:ai and cftecti1e lct!ch::r,btp ttl d~enc; ,, 

more than l UlOO employees. would do by :1ddrcso;mg the; listed above, but Jh.P 

by on three principks: 

l) Rc·dr.Kc: chtpllcntion. Wilik progress been mad.: since l 11 JS last at GSA. GSA still 

lws to reduce <luplicatton in lb support :;en ices. Fun her, 1\ here 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 4 
205 

appropriate. 11 can help other agcncrcs also reduce duplication by facilitating the Jdop!lon 

of shared sernccs. 

2) Increase compcrilio11. There arc opportunities for GSA 10 increase compcriuon the 

:Jward lcvd and at the contract leveL both for its own intcmal contracts and on the 

contmcts thcd by other agencies. lmpnwcments ln GSA's own systems >.lwuld mnkc it 

less burdensome for agencies and vendors allkc to work.\\ nh GSA. \\ hkh !!l tum ohould 

reduce barriers to competition. 

3) Improve transparency. Tinpaycrs need to have: contidcncc thill GSA ilhlays puts then· 

int~rests fir~t, and to do M.J GSA >hould nnpmvc the qu,llity, >ecrmty ami arcesstblilly or 

its datiL whtlc helping other ngcnctc:, do the sam~. 

l2. In your opinion, is GSA currently fulfilling its responsibility to provide the "best value in 

real estate, acquisition, and technology services" to the government? Please explain. 

I be !lev c that the employees of GSA me stm ing to provide best value tn real estate. acql!lsnwn. 

and technology, but that there arc still opportnnilre, to impwvc, lf confirmed. 11 would be my 

rcsponsibriHy to work willltlns ConmutkG to pmsuc those opportunities. For example, the rtoc 

ofbloekdmin. cloud ,md software systems lb a service. rather than rdwnc~ on kgacy IT 

systems. should alln11 GS/\ to bcttc:r lull!llitS rc;;ponsihilitics to taxpayers and oilier agcnctcs 

IV. Policy Questions 

Real Property 

l3. Congress has encouraged the federal government to dispose of vacant and underutilized 

space as well as consolidate space. In December 2016, the Federal Assets Sale and 

Transfer Act (P.L. 114-578) was signed into law, which establishes a Public Buildings 

Refonn Board to identify and sell no less than five excess high-value real property assets 

for a combined value of$500 million. 

a. What steps will you take as Administrator to ensure the full implementation of this 

legislation? 

lf,contimlcd, f am committed to ensuring the succc'is of the F1\ST Act. The legislation h,rs given 

the Federal Govcmmcnt an opportunity to improve its managcmcm of real property and iocnti!Y 

savings for the Amcnt.::an taxpayer by lncenuvizing the rnorc u.;;e of real proper1y. Th!s 

effort will also address some of the issues nn th~ GAO High Risk GSA has Dln:ndy begun 

outreach to other Executive branch c~gcncies :rnd collec·tcd real prop~n.y data to enable the Public 

Buildings Reform BoJrd to make rc:oi cslatc decisions. 

b. In addition to implementing the federal real property refonns enacted during the 114'• 

Congress, what, if any, reforms would you suggest to reduce the federal government's 

real property footprint? 

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lf confmm:d, I would wm k with this Committe~. the Senate Commillcc on Environment and 

Pnbllc Works. the House Committee on Oversight and Government Rcfom1. the House 

Commillcc on Transportnl!on and lnirastructurc and both CommiHccs on Appwpnatmns to 

reduce the Federal Government's real property tootpnnL It ts my underst-tru.lmg that over 100 

millwn sqmm: fed of GSA lc,rs<:s will ,;xpar; in the next five years. This crc<~tcs an opportwnty 

to collobor~tc with Congrcs~ and ag.:ndcs lo consoltd.ltc opcrationo. but it will frank 

chscussiom, about agency rcqutrcnu::nt-;, Likewise. rfconfirmcd, l would c:>.plorc opportunities IO 

use th~~c cxpn ing lca~cs to s~n e taxpayer tnoncy, dthe1 by n:duc1ng reh~lnt:e on ~hort tcnn ka~es 

or by analyz.mg upportunitk·s for ground lcc~se lca·cbachs or d!scotmtcd pmchase options. 

c. What, if any, reforms would you suggestio expedite the process for disposing of 

excess, underutilized, or surplus renl property? 

l [ con!lrmcd. l would work \\ rth thl> Cmmnil!cc and Congrcs, to improve tile disposal process. 

Th.: first rvund of tlispusals under the FAST t\ct should msigbts into additional 

oppormnrttcs tmpro\c the procc:;s, but l also hdieve that the optwn to have shon-t<:rm 

kasebacks could C'<p~dilt! the rlispo.al process. 

14. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has included federal real property 

management on its High Risk h~t each year since 2003. GSA is the primary agency 

responsible for improving this high risk area. 

a. What steps will you take as Administrator to remove federal real property 

management from GAO's High Risk list? 

Jm commincd to working wFh GAO dnd rdcv:mt E~cculivc branch ag<:nctt;.; ro address lhc 

GAO rccommcmiatiom. with the goa! of!cmov;ng real property from the Uigh Rr>k list. 

15. GAO has reported extensively that GSA's database of agencies' inventories of real 

property assets, the Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP), is inaccurate and unreliable 

due to inconsistent reporting by agencies. 

a. What steps will you take to improve the accuracy of the FRPP so that it can be a 

useful tool to assist in disposing of excess, underutilized, or surplus real property? 

I c~m committcJ tn conl!numg rlw work of GSA to improve quality of data in the FRPP. 

through data validation process,~' and wnh Fdeml Real Property Council 

to improve# daw dcfillition~ tiJ-H can have danly when +e-~~~~·&M~ 

data 1<' !he FRPP. Add;twna!Jy, ! \\ill witb my 

to the pnh!ic 

16. What concrete steps will you take during your tenure to reduce agency reliance on leases 

in cases where government ownership would be more cost-effective over the long term? 

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l firmly agrc<: lhm ll is olkn i11 the best mtcr"sl t!w Fcckral Government Ill r.:dlrcc agency 

rdi;111cc on real property leases, !f confirmed, l sec my role as an advocate for fcdcm! real 

property ami w11i work with Congress 10 ;,ccttrc acCL'ss to the lunding necessary to repair. 

maintain, ami appropnawly manage the federal real property pmtfolio. 

1 7, In July 20 l 7, GSA announced its decision to cancel plans to exchange the current Federal 

Bureau of Investigations (FBI) headquarters, which sits on a square city block or prime 

real estate in downtown Washington, D.C., for the construction of a new headquarters in 

suburban Maryland or Virginia. GSA's statement read in part that "[t]he cancellation of 

the project does not lessen the need for a new FBI headquarters ... GSA and FBI will 

continue to work together to address the space reqUirements ofthe FBI." 

a. If confirmed, will you commit to working expeditiously with FBI officials to secure a 

new heudquarters for the FBI and in the meantime facilitate ucquisitions to support 

the agency's critical needs in its current location? 

Yc,, 

b. If confirmed, will you commit to promptly informing Committee Members and staff 

or significant developments, delays or needs in support of securing the FBI's new 

headquarters and maintaining the FBI's existing infrastructure? 

y, .. ,, 

18. On March 23,2017, GSA determined that Trump Old Post Office LLC is in "full 

compliance" with its lease with GSA for the Old Post Office property in Washington, 

D.C., and that "the Lease is valid and in full force and effect." 

a. Did you have any role in this detem1ination'? Please explain. 

No. Th1s dctcrrninaticm \\ by ctlr:.:cr ::unuat:tmg ofllccr. 

b. If confirmed as Administrator, how will you handle this specific lease? 

! 11 ill handle tbts h:asc like all o!her (iS A kasc~. 

As\\ Hh all othc'r GSA knscs. 1 wtll ensure th;ll GSA fosters m cnvironmcm that allows the 

career profr:s;ionals at GSA to pcrfonn thctr \\Ork lrcc 0\lblck intcrferc:nce. political or 

othcn1 is e. 

19. During the Obama Administration, GSA and the Department ofHomeland Security 

(DHS) undertook a large scale construction project at the St. Elizabeth's campus in 

Washington, D.C., which, in 2013, was estimated to cost $4.5 billion and be completed 

by 2026. The initial plan was for the project to be completed as early as 2014 and cost 

less than $3 billion. The project would consolidate DHS operations at a single, secure 

location. GAO in a September 2014 report concluded that GSA and DHS had not 

followed relevant GSA guidance and leading practices when developing cost and 

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schedule estimates for the St. Elizabeth's project. For example, GAO found that a 

life-cycle cost analysis, including the cost of operations and maintenance, was not 

factored into the estimates and that an independent cost estimate was not conducted. 

GAO recommended that GSA and DHS revise the DHS headquarters plans to reflect 

leading practices for capital decision making and reliable cost and schedule estimates. 

That recommendation remains open. 

a. If confirmed, what steps will you take as GSA Administrator to implement all 

recommendations made by GAO in its September 2014 report with regard to the St. 

Elizabeth's consolidation project? 

If con!lmwd, l \\ t!l be commiu~d to implementing the CiAO rc:cnrnm~ndations with respect to 

GSA uctivli!CS. 

Personal Property 

20. GAO and multiple Inspectors General have uncovered fraudulent activity within various 

federal excess personal property disposal programs. For instance, the Office of Inspector 

General for GSA in July 2017 reported that GSA does not have adequate controls in 

place to prevent ineligible organizations from registering and receiving donations oflT 

equipment through the Computers for Learning Program. 

a. What do you see as GSA's role in the federal excess personal property disposal 

process? 

GSA\ rok: assi:,-.;img in dt;.;po~mg of C'\c£.~<.;;.; property <l 1':1ir and 

mmspnrcnt process !hJt provides the best 01 cr;lii v,!l"c to the Am~ricnn t:lXJltl)CL l wdl Jiso 

wock Ctburc that GSA implement> til<: IG tccommcmbtion.s and tlut the rllspos;;l ts 

compliam:c wtth ~lll n:kvant statute> nnd 

b. If appropriately funded, do you believe GSA should serve as the central 

clearinghouse for excess personal property programs like Computers for Learning? 

!understand the bcndits of gcning tcdmology into th<: hands oi' Anwncan stuck:nts. amL tf 

conllrmcct. will 'itudy hnw hctlL'r suppon thb H11i'ortant progwm it is my undcp,tandmg thai 

'i!Kc !!seal year 2000. GSA supportJCd th.:: Compntcts for Lcammg iCFLl prop,tm by 

hosting n vvchsttc that lltctlitatcs transfers nr compmcr and peripheral equipment tt.msfcrs: 

hclWC\ er, u:-r: oftho 1wb-;nc i, not mant!Jtnry and !IJ.H roqgbly half ol CFL transkrs lupp,·n 

oul\J(k the CFL wcbsnc m a gtwn lisc,tl year. If confirmed. l would wor!.. wrth till'- Committ~c' 

to under.; rand whether an expanded wk Cor GSA mrilc CFL process. if ;rppmprintcly funded, 

un!ld tlllpro\ c the opcr,rttmrs or the progr uw ;md bcHcr !IE! I surphr:, computet' arc m<Jkw~ 

rt to the intcm.kd rcctptcnt:;. 

Hurricane Recove1y Activities at GSA 

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21. GSA is a critical component of the nation's disaster response apparatus, assisting federal, 

state, and local governments to quickly purchase additional ambulance services, search 

and rescue services, medical supplies, food and water, and other emergency supplies. 

a. Please describe GSA's activities in response to hunicanes Harvey and Irma. 

GSA ihcco-lc:Jd Hh FEtvlA on Support 7. winch timely nnd 

cft!ctcnt tkhn~ry of supplws, cqtnpmcnt. ""'"''"'"and I;Kd!ttcs. !t also Htcilit,Hes cnmpn:hcmh e 

lngbtics plannmg, kchnical Zt~:-;~~t<H1Ct.!~ lrauling. t=dur:.HwtL exelcl5c. int:nknt rc:\pOlbC and 

.'nstamnwnt tllat k\ cragc the cap.!btltt~ and of logistics part ncb. public and 

pn\ att: stakchold..:.~rs and nongrn C! nnH.~nLll \)rgalH/~ltH•n:.; ( 0!Ci0:>) 

and d1~H.;;kr "i1H'\ J\ 

!n addnton tP t!k' lead roic LISA plays in 

1Tr.1mponation). CSF 

I 

GSA deployed: 

<> 14 7 stafl tu the FEIVL•\ Natinn<~l Rcspomc Coordin!lt!on Center iNRCC) 

" GSA Lttuson ~mb~<.kkd with t--:ORTHCOI\1. 

.. 

b. Please describe your role, if any, in facilitating these efforts. 

I'Cil\:d} 

<lild 

i\s a s,~mor Ath l'Or to the i\drnmi·.tramL J IM\'C bcenmonitonng GSA's em1rtS in i(rcilildting tht: 

agency·~ support to fcd;.~r,d, '"t~ltc. and local ,1gcncics m rcspon,:;c 10 hurricane~ Harvey. Irma and 

i'vbri~t G1\C'I1 my pv.~l \\ ork un lh-,ast~·r rt:-.;ponse. l'\e h<:en abk tu options such as 

r~tk:pl{lying ihe contract in_!.! policy office th~ ()f11cc of GnYermncnl\\ Hk ; r ncccs~ary, 

to capacny suppnn the db:JSh'r relief etTort<. J'v~? \\0rked to coordim11.: 

w:m·c:rs wnh Oftkc nfProcmcmcnt Polley to cnsun: GSA is best using the awhontics it has 

111 prndJc all pos,;bk support alkcttd accompanied th<· ;\cling Administratm 

FEMA NRCC to ensure thai GSA 1;; bc;;r fnlfillmg rcsponsibllittcf. to FE:VI.'\, other 

agl~l1cit.~s. GSA cn1p!oyccs, und the pcopie ofTc:\~b. FloricLL G;,;orgia . .:\!ab;Hna. Pucno Rico 

th(.; Vtrgin fsJnnds. 

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c. What reforms, if any, would you suggest to improve GSA's capacity in this area? 

lf conllmwd. I would ork 11 ith tin, ConumHce nnd Congress necessary 

impro1 cmctW; to GSA's capacny to pr01tclc tun ely and thorot~gh responses w disnstcr.;, One 

area I'd !ikL: to c:,plon: ts cxpandmg GSA's abl!Hy pmvuk a<sistcd acqUJsiuons, so tlmt GSA 

can more r"ptdly pick Hp surge rcquncmeots from other agcnctcs. Lik~wisc. I would !ihc to 

c'plotc the ulea of maint,tining a databnsc of lca<>mg and conlmc!mg >pecialists wllhin GSi\ I bat 

have (Omplctc(t contmg\!ncy contracting training J! the Federal institute ami who 

would b~ \I illing to deploy tn case!' of m1Honal d1c:a;;tcrs. 

Information Tec!lnology Acquisition and Development 

22. GSA's mission statement states that one of the agency's missions is "to deliver the best 

value in( ... ] technology services to government and the American people." 

a. Is the proper role of GSA to deliver technology services to federal agencies, or to 

assist those agencies in acquiring technology services? Please explain. 

I firmly belt eve th,tt ''!len,; I cr possible GSA s1muld look to 

sen KC'I for lcdcra! Wlulc thcr~ may be 

appropn.l1c 

ih~ govcrmncnt and the taxpay .. ~r m 

sen tees. I r conlirmed, lVIII work !o 

st>ll!timb lit st. thai It lidps 

taxpayer dollar;; arc spent Wtsdy 

;J !rerncndou-; ~tdvanlagc for 

co!1'~trlcrcl~1l1e~;,.·hnjJlogy 

!;K'i!itnte:.; adopt Jon or comrncn.:ial 

v.:d1JHtlogtt:<\l 1\..) ensure 

23. In June 2017, GSA announced that it is reorganizing and folding the Technology 

Transforn1ation Service (TIS) into the Federal Acquisition Service (PAS). This comes 

after a report by the GSA OIG which found that previous GSA Administrator Denise 

Turner Roth retaliated against a whistleblower who alleged that the creation of TIS 

outside PAS was a violation of law. 

a. Do you think this reorganization will assist GSA in meeting its mission? Please 

explain. 

l believe this n:orgatHzathm rc:pn:scnts opportnmly fi.>r GSA to h.:ttc:r meet tlt; mis~ron and 

<1rfcct change across the government. Given ihat h\S was ,rlrcady respon;.iblc for over '124 

billion in tcdmology reb ted with m cr 5.000 contr<tcts. and that TTS posscs,cs 

sub,wntial cxpcrtioc in how to bctkr dctinc rc·quircments and adopt ugtlc procurement and 

development strategies. blingmg thc~sc two organiz<llions togdbct allows taxpay,;p; to be!ler 

l"verage the ~Xpi'Tllsc of both groups. If con!irmcd. will work to cn:.urc that tile merger rcsulh 

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in higb-quelity service to fedemlagcncw' <~rHI the best pwcl!ccs of the privmc sector providing 

di,crsc array or products, services, aud suppori. 

b. How would you address concerns that having a political appointee as FAS 

commissioner will lead to politicized purchasing and create conflicts ofinterest? 

l do not believe it is the role of polinc-rl appointee<> contracts, or \0 tnjc•ct rolittcs imo 

government procurement !f confirmed, I will ensure that environment exists that allows the 

contrawng nflicers to pcrkmn their work free of o\Hsidc inlcrfcrL'IlCC, po!Jucal or otherwise, and 

! ''ill also holu the PAS Comrn1ssioncr .rccountablc for crc.nmg :-nch an environment. 

Additinnally, l belie' c the appointme!11 of a h\S Commi"toncr >hov\ sa !ugh kvcl of 

commitmenf by the Admmhtration to impnn mg and modcrntLmg government procurement 

pracltcc~,_ 

24. The GSA Office oflnspector General has recently investigated allegations relating to the 

misuse of GSA's Acquisition Services Fund (ASF) by the Technology Transfonnation 

Service (TIS), If con finned, what steps will you take to prevent future mismanagement 

of ASF funds? 

l tilh the lG's rc~omrncndations very senously it is my rmckrswndmg that TTS has aln::ady 

implemented several step> to address tbc fG's findings. GS;\ i,; fully aware· that the overnll slalT 

size of 1 RF should correspond to immmcnt market dem;md lor ltc; services, ln l:Kt. TTS lw;; 

strcnmlincd operation' and l RF hrb rcuuced it:; hcadcount b:. 7° ,, in the recent months. One step 

t!htl ISF took to th,; lG\ r-:commcml,nillllS that none" stn!T is hm;d without th;; 

wriucn <~pprm a! Ft\S leadership proof of necu. Funhcnnore, I ;{f has made it priomy 

subsrantiaHy incrc;1sc number of that I orkmg on 

agcncy-rariner pwjc:cts. !XF ilas established dear for full cost rcccncry 

and is tracking pmgrcss 10ward that gor\1 each wcck. lf continnctL l will continue to cttourc tlut 

TTS and l SF ;tdh,;t-c to. and cxp:md upon, these hnponunt remedies. 

25, The Modemiling Government Technology Act ("MGT Act"), if enacted, will establish a 

centralized fund for technology modernization housed within the Department of 

Treasury, which will be administered by GSA under guidance from OMB. 

a, What, in your view, are the biggest challenges GSA would face related to the 

administration of this centralized revolving fund? If con finned, what steps would you 

take to address these challenges? 

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) would be a »lgni!kant tww tool to help address the 

federal gov<.:rnmcnt's <tging IT infmstmcturc. As the agency tasked with admin~>tcnng tlic TMF 

and supporting the TMF's Board. one of GSA's biggest challenge,; is likely to be balancing the 

need to keep administrative c\pcnscs low, while also crmtring the Board has the nccc;,~ary 

information and background to make well-int\)mwd dec1sions on project uwcstment lf 

conlimwu, l would ensure clear processes and procedures <1re put in place to cknrly identify htm 

projects are to be C\'aluated by GSA stoffprior 10 and dming Board consrderation. 

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b. Do you believe that the reforms included in the MGT Act, if enacted, will fully 

address the federal government's technology modernization needs? 

While rhc TMF would be a powcrfulnt:l\ tool to hdp addres; Federal Govcmmcnf,; 

technology modcrnttation ned,, fully addressing this issue will rcq1rirc sw;rainc:d c!fon aero's 

both tile Executive .md Lcgisbtlvc branches nf government !f conllrmclL 1 would look forw,ml 

to work111g "ith rhts Commincc and '' ith Congr.:s•; to conttmlc lo :rJdrcss thcs.: issues 

c. If confirmed, what additional reforms, if any, would you pursue to facilitate 

information technology modernization government-wide? 

! bclwvc GSA can play an imponant mlc m IT mndcrnizatmn. Already. GSA IS agencies 

m a varkty ofwnys, mcluding through a~slstt:d acquisitions. best pr,u:ttces devdopmcnt. bkm:d 

sen ices. and techmc<l! ,rssist<me'<: to c~gencic,. !f confirmed, 11 \\otlid be my goal a<; GSi\ 

Admini-;trator to expand ;md gnm tlw;;c C'llorls p:wt1cular, l bcltc>c arc opponuni:i<:' 

for GS/1. to help ugcn<:tes ma~c better of commcrchd I solutt<lliS, "hdher tbnuglr dtrcct 

pnKlll'CillCI\h or through shmcd scrvicr:s. Adulttonaliy, G<;A <.l10uld u>ntJ!ltlC its kalkrship m 

daw center consolidation. usc the cloud cuvir0nmcnr usc of d0r elopmcm 

pi ,;c(JCC$. 

hJrtllcr, 1f eonfmncd I would work with this Committe~ on b~Hcr way:; to acquire lnfonnJIJOI1 

Technology. For ~xnmpli:, on.: poS>ibility would be: to pmchase con'ltlllplion-bascd IT a 

utility. Todrty. can lace ch:Jllcngc> cmNtmplwn-bnscd IT, 

ollcll i.lS !nl!·ustructurc-a~-.!-Servicc or So!tw,m:-,t•:-a·-Sc·n lLtVc: rroubk 

,tth-:-qthttdy tt~n:cd:-.hng usag(; dUL"+ i~) !argt.: number 

usage dr,mm!lcally. Thi'< icads to OV<.TCOJJsumplion. "hirh costs ""''"""'''' 

dd11 cring addtl!onal value. By to a pay-as-yr'll-tlO 11lll(.klth:Ii :rl!mvs ngcncics w pay 

the fact ICll' consumed, as ts already dofl(; ntlwr utilitic:o; ltke ckclnclty, 1\oukl 

dimmatc :ugndicant complicatwns nlk)\\ tn finaw;ml 

saving~~ 

26. !SF, which recently moved under Federal Acquisition Services as part of the 

reorganization ofTechnology Transformation Services at GSA, has a website which 

states that it works with other federal agencies to "plan successful projects, build custom 

software, get better results with vendors, or learn how to work in new ways." 41 U.S.C. 

§ 3307 institutes a preference for commercial items over custom IT development. 

a, Do you believe GSA should be encouraging custom, in-house IT development? 

Please explain. 

!t JS rny strong be lid that GSA, and !he felkml government should alway:, sc~ek to buy firo.;l, 

build only a,; bst r~sort. lf confirmed. it will be my policy to utJ!Jz~ commen:wltt~:ms "to the· 

llld~imum cxtcm practicable,'" outlined in 41 U ~ 3307, 

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27. 18F developed Login.gov, a tool designed to be a universal login for any interaction with 

the federal government despite the existence of numerous commercial login platforn1s 

that are routinely patched for security issues as part of the regular course of businesses by 

their developers. 

a. Do you believe the universal login could be at risk for being targeted by our 

adversaries? If so, what would you recommend to mitigate this risk? 

It is my understanding that Login.gov is designed lo help botllnnpro1'<: the user experience fDI 

the American public when intcr;lcting with the: federal government online. as ll'ell as ensure the 

security of cllizcns · data. Spccil!cally, Login.gov saleguards their dma by mandating a 

two-factor authentication procc3s, nml by encryptinol the pcrsmml tnformatwn of each user 

scpar;Jtdy, using a unique value from each user';; pas:;worJ. As a result, only tile user 

has tlw capability to decrypt their information, making th..:ir information safer and stgni!ic,mt!y 

less prone to being compromised. However. il'confirmcd. l would <:ontinuc to monitor this 

initiati' c to ensure tbut any emergent risks are mitigated promptly. 

b. Do you view this in-house development approach as more cost-effective in the long 

tern1 than a full, open competition for a commercial product that best suits the 

government's needs? 

believe that full and open compcl!tion provides tile best value to both the American taxpayer 

nnd the Fcdcm! Go1 cmmcnl. should be the !irst option cothtdcrcd in any procurcmcnL 

28. How would you distinguish the work of 18F from that of the U.S. Digital Service? 

l cannot speak on bcllalfnfanothcr However. I!<F prm technical expertise !0 

federal agencies on a reimbursable basis on a wide variety of di!!ttal services w;ing 

processes on~ discrete, projcct-by-pwjcct basis. Agcm:ics seek out ! SF that cxpcrti>c. and 

!SF takes on projects after constlltation with those agencies. B.:e<wsc or this unique role, llH' ;;: 

able to help dcYclop a longcHcm1 strntcgy for improYing ho\\ agencies interact with the public. 

F\lrthennorc. l ~F is responsible recovering the costs nf its "ork: il does rccc(\·c a reg.1.tlar 

appropriation. 

29. Do you believe that 18F is meeting a current government need? Please explain. 

By bringmg to bear lcchno!ogical expertise assembled dircctly from the pri' ate sector, I llF hdps 

(msun: that Federal agencies .ue better able to properlv swpc crlli<:al project>. undc!slancl 

commercial solutions and products ;wailablc to them, improve the way in 1\ htch they interact 

with and respond to the American public, and employ agik methods when appropnate to get the 

best possible rc!Um on inveslmen! taxpayers. 

30. If confirmed, what steps will you take to ensure that GSA continues to consolidate its 

own data centers and leads the consolidation efforts at other agencies? 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 13 
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GSA has bc,~n leader among~! F~1h:ral agcnn~.s in consohdatmg am! closmg Its own daw 

centers. Sine,; the Federal D~ta Center Conso!ld:Hwn lmtw!ivc ( FDCC!) was i,Hmch~d in 

GSA has closed 110 data <:enter' and has n:nl,,:cd $35 million Ill cost savings. Currently. GSA 

hus two tiered ami one nmHkn:d agcncy-own.cd d,tta lf umllrmclL! would work to 

dose the two ttcrcd dnta tc'l\lcrs. 

Furt!t~:rmorc, il confirmed. I IHluld 11ork tn en~urc that GSA meets its obltgatiow; under OMB 

Memorandum l\1- 16- I'\ which requires GSA to nHlllllfiC the Data Center Optbmzation !nitiath c 

(DCOl). lfconfinned, l would suppmt DCOI efforts in coordinmc government-wide 

nmsoiidation. offer subject ll!<llkr c.\pcrlhl.'. and opcrJle shared-sen rc.::; marke!pln\:e. and 

meet the dain ccnt~r consolidatron rcqull'cmcms of!h~ Federal Information Technology 

Acquisition Rcf(mn Act (FlTARA). 

31. GSA recently made awards under its Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract. 

GSA has stated that "EIS is a comprehensive solutions-based vehicle that addresses all 

aspects of federal agencies' information technology, telecommunications, and 

infrastructure requirements." 

a. Do you believe that EIS is comprehensive? If not, what services is it missing? 

rs my rmdcNanding at recently ''"atdcd E!S <.:Pin act was de:,i).:ncd" 

kssoo, learned irom the Nct\\Orx conli.td to be;~ cornprchcnsl\c :,olu!ion, 

agency cap!!biliti\.'.S" -.;ccunty and comp!J.mce rcqutrcmcnts, Howcv~:r, tc\.:hnoiogy is n1ptJ!y 

cvolvmg. so the contr.a:t includes the :~biltt; to 011~ramp c!mrpanrc:o vl'tth HC\1' und inmnati1 c 

vendors uml mandatory pncc rcsHbmh'HlDI' by contract If conl!rm..:d, J would 

intb<O contr;JCL 

b. Do you think federal agencies will be able to successfully transition from Networx by 

2020 as projected? 

h is my understanding that GSt\ cardully stmhcd the kssons learned !'rom the transition to 

Nc\\\ orx, mcludl!lg the GAO recommendations, and bdrcvcs 1\ i!h appmprirl!c coopcrmwn 

ffotn agenctc:- it v-:d! he able tn transnwn fn.nn the pn:viou~ contract ttJ m a ti1nciy and 

cflkicn! manncr. How''' cr, in my opinion risks do still C confirmed, l will cnsur(: thnr 

GSA monitors and mt!l:,2rltcs these ri~ks. whJCil mdudc· 

Gl Rcsourc~ challcng.:e.; f(rr GSA and contractor:, mvolvmg tmHng and the anticipated 

number of Fair Opponumty ~olicitatwn:, co no ;ret mmhflc,Hwns 

e Ttmcly cwcu!ton of Interagency Agreements hl between GSA and ngcncrc' due 

to,olumc 

* Slm' F;m Opportunity dccismn at the agency kwl 

<> Lack of lhnding for Task Orders m th~ Jgcncy k•vel 

" Task Order protests by unsuccessful vendors 

" Delay:; in Opcrntions Snppo11 Systems and Business Support Systems testing 

., Lack of senior ovcrsrght within agcncic:> 

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" Shurl~n<!d transition \\ indnw may 

and :,ole-source 

the m:•·d for Cmllinuity OfScrvtcc 

32. After many years of challenges, GSA appears to be making progress with the 

modernization of the Integrated Acquisition Environment and the System for Award 

Management. Do you believe the modernization is moving in the right direction? What 

is needed to ensure that current efforts are successful? 

As a lormcr Hiil swlkr and a cmtcnt active: user syst.:m, I <;hare your interest and concern 

for the succcssfulmodcmitntlon ofSAM/IAE. While cmploynllw the !louse. l t!cquently 

parncipm<!d m working group;; aimed to improve the opcratmno> of SAM lAE. !f conlirmed. l 

plan on i'ollowmg the progress of SAMI!AE c!osl'ly. ;md leok fmward to working" tth t!t~ 

Commtltcc to ensure ihCSc' cl'lorts m·c successful. 

Some nfthc aspects of the mndernizatron! will be monitonng include: feedback !hun agency. 

private sector and public sector sta~dJO!dcrs regarding Bc1JLSAM.gov- the n:ccntly J,nmchcd 

umlicd homcpagc and eventual authoritative source fiJr all granh aml contmct information. 

implementation of the Beta site\\ hen I! bunches 10 all stakeholders: the integration of limcttons 

from legacy systems into Bcta.SAM.gov; cmllnlcting ,·osts am! support k\ ds for the 

ntodcmization effort nnd the continmJiion n!' unintenuptcd l'unclionn!ity of tlw SAM !t\E <;ystcm 

for all user;;, 

Proctll'emenf Policy 

33. While working in the private sector, you gave numerous speeches regarding "contracting 

reform." 

First. l would like to noll' that my speeches on C(Hllr<~ctmg rcfmm all occurred while l 11 ;~:>a 

federal employee. either" erking for GSA. or- 111 the vast majority of cases- the ! !ousc of 

Representatives. These speeches\\ ere a chance to talk 11 llll outside groups about lcgrslation 

bdorc the Commilt<!C' wlwr~ I was employed, so I ~.:ouhJ share their feedback With the Members 

of Congress [ill· 11 hom! wor~cd, and thus help refine the under!) ing pohctcs. lf confmned. I 

will strive to cnsmc that GSi\ al>o cngag<:s m robust dialogue on policy 

a. What, in your view, is working with the system for contracting and procurement in 

the federal government and what are the most critical reforms needed to improve 

efficiency and cost-effectiveness for taxpayers in government contracting? 

l think the United States should be proud tbut it has n procun~mcnt 'ystcm in which any qual! tied 

vendor can compete, the tcmts of the competition are announced publicly. agencies arc held 

accountable for ma~rng the awards in m:cord;mcc with those terms. and the public has 1 isibtlny 

int<> how !i:dcrnl funds are spent However, in my opinion. the govcmmcnt still fails to tully take 

mtu account the lifecyclc of its acqmsitions, in<;tcad focusing on the specific instance of the 

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procurement. Further. l believe !he govcrmm:nt um improv.: how tl dc!lnc its rcqumclllr'nls. 

Ftnally, I believe too m,my procurements have one off<"r. 

b. If con tinned, what steps would you take, if any, to implement these and other 

contracting refonns for which you've advocated? 

If conlinncd, I would work tn fully nnplcmcntlhc to forms Congress has cn,tctcd, emphasize 

<~CCJllloltion plannmg mthor than stmpl\ procurement, and sock to increase compdilwn at the 

contract !cvcl;md tlw task onkr kvd. 

34. GAO has identified increased use of strategic sourcing as a means of saving tens of 

billions of dollars in federal procurement spending. Yet, use of strategic sourcing 

remains low in many agencies. What, if any, refonns would you suggest to increase the 

use of strategic sourcing without unduly limiting competition? 

S~;rategic ~ourcing holds tht: prurn}'-.1,! of ddi\ ering redi sa\ n.>r taxp~1yers, in my upmion, 

most successful s\i'akgic sourcmg Yducks ar<; those thm firsr nnd for..,most thoroughly 

understand the mnrkd forces as'' ell;;, the gowmmcnt's buying prGcriccs. /\dd1tionally. 

vchh:ks provrdc for 1!1<: addition of updated prodtH:ts. a How compdiltcm the t;,sk order leveL 

have on ra1nps for nt:\\ cornpe:ftnr~. ,md di~;c:rdt: ":no ugh sfatemcnts of work so the 

nwxunum nmnber con1p:1nics cump~..~h,~, 

Fc>r example. tiK \ari<)US sotll\:ing ' used ror oUicc supplics useful 

insights. ao of!icc supplucs arc a rchttivdy >l~rll.lnn! commodity. The nwstsucccssftrl of these 

Vi.!hidcs m tt:rm:, of clptunng nwrkct ;.;hare and dc!in:ring saving" \Vns ~~ bhmk.el pun:hase 

agrcemenl (HPA) \I ith a 1 ,1dcty vcudnrs the multiple ~ward scllc·du!c. ll succcs<;f\ri 

b~<:ausc the awardccs sharply drscountcd their prices ccm1m1tkd to ii.rrihcr discounts when 

ccrtnm thresholds were met while allowing: the comprmics cnn!inllally update the products 

offered. However, ano!hcr I-cy to !Is o.ucccss was liJ<Jl it pmvrckd opportunities for cumprmics 

tlmt did not wm HP;h !n remam m mmkct. As a rcsull, these comp.mi.::s abo became much 

more wrth their pricing. the abk to (l:;li\'C:r sa\ 

Cl'c:n to agcncrcs didn't usc tile l wcruld work wtth 

the Comrmttcc to tind mnovative io 

while compcti•.ron. 

35, If confim1ed, what steps will you take to ensure category management and the common 

acquisition platfonn proceed in a way that minimizes administrative cost increases for 

vendors? 

!f con!1rmed, \1 rli work to improve the systems tlldt me us~d to m~nagc ti11C contl~ct olfcnngs 

of the hdrml Acqn!Sitlon Scr\!CC, Th~rc <llC CUIT<:ntly mot\.: than !50 such kg.tcy sy;.;lcms. Tile 

lack of modem sy>tcms limH<; GSA's ab1!ity to cffcctrvcly implement category managcmc:nt. 

Modcmtzmg these: sy:.tcms should a!sn reduce the· bun.kn on co1macwrs, \\ h~eh rcmo' cs a 

'.trhstan!tal barri.:r to entry for many companies. 

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36. The AbilityOne program provides important employment opportunities for people who 

are blind or severely disabled through federal procurements of goods and services from 

non-profits employing these individuals. However, it is often difficult for the program to 

determine whether these non-profits are actually employing sufficient numbers of 

severely disabled individuals to meet the program's requirements. If confirmed, what 

action will you take to ensure this program is helping people who truly need it'? 

l take seriously GSA's responsibilities in assisting thos<: with disabilities fmding a place in t!w 

workrorce in support of Federal ugcncics. In scttion R<JS of Public Law 1 I 4·328. Congress 

established a panel to investigate problems rclcrcnccd in your question. and to ensure that 

contracting staff arc appropriately tmined on the ll>e of the AbilityOnc program. lfconfinncd. 

will follow the progress of the panel closely, and will work to ~nsm~ thnt c\bilityOnc 

program continue~ to haw the fuH support oftlw clltirc I will also be pr.:parcd to address 

:my llndings of the panel. Funller, l will <:xplon; rc·plicating the training for usc by civilian 

contrart specialists. Finally. J share your concern abont particip:1ting cmitics meeting program 

n:quircmerM and will seek the ovcrsighl and advice of the O!G, this Committee and the 

t\bilityOnt! Commission (of which GSA is a mcmbcr) to help with this issu-e. 

37. In 2006, you approved the suspension of the price evaluation adjustment for small 

disadvantaged businesses for the Department of Defense (DoD). 

a. Please explain your rationale for suspending the use of the price evaluation 

adjustment for small disadvantaged businesses in DoD procurements at this time. 

When GSA ts pro\ ;ding asststcd ncqut\ition ocrviccs for other agcnctcs, GSA's contracting 

nfTiccr5 arc required to fo!lo\\ the rules npp!icablc to those agcnctcs. DoD, pursuant to lOU .S.C. 

~ 2323{c)(3)(B)(ii) require;, that the Sccrct:uy nf Dc!i:ns~ mmual!y dcknninc: whether the DoD 

met the goal of aw:mhng 5 percent of prime comrdcts to small disnd' anwgcd businesses. and 

so. the Sccrclilry must issue written suspension of the price c,·alu;aion al\justmcnt for small 

disadvantaged businesses one year. On February 2006. the Secretary ihSucd such a 

>ttspcnsion, and tberct(Jre ns th<: Clm:f ;\equisidon Of!iccr ill GSA it was my responsibility to 

communicate tht!t ,uspenswn to cnnll".lCHng omc~rs providing assiSted acquisition services to 

DoD in order to cnsun.: that GSA wus complymg with the underlying law. 

b. Please describe any other instances during your tenure at GSA where you suspended 

the price evaluation adjustment for a class of businesses? 

1 am un:m are of another om.: at GSA 11 hen I ISS Lied a ,uspension of tbc pncc evaluation 

adjustment for any clas» ofbusmc,sc:< howe' cr, in the ;,pint of this qu~stion, l want to disclose 

that wht!c \\ Hh SBA. l rssucd a memorandum to til~ Chief Acqutsitwn Officer and Scnwr 

Procur~mcnt E'l:ccuth cs notifymg them that the ;,tatutory autlwnty (or ctvilinn ag<:ndcs to apply 

a price evaluatmn adjustment to procurements wah small disadvantaged bus mess (Section 7l 02 

of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994. Pub. L 103-355) had lapsed. 

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Consequently, absent net ion, civilian agencies drd not have I he ;tuthori!y to 11pply 

~ pncc evaluation adju~tmenL The same mcmor:mdnm referenced the scparMe authority for 

Defense agencies in title l 0. flu~ mcmornndum w;1s issued on December 22, 2004, and a copy 

was provided to the Commltil'c 

Improper Payments 

38. According to the GSA OIG, GSA is not in compliance with improper payments laws 

because it did not meet the reduction target for the Rental of Space Program. lf 

confirmed, what will you do to ensure that GSA is in compliance going forward? 

If con finned, It ts my goal !tlt GSA to not make any Improper payments. lwil! work'' ith the 

Ci·O to cn:.ure that all of the !(, 's recommendations ar..: addrcssctL and that we apply lllllc;,son' 

!camcd to future tran:;.tcl!ons. 

39. GSA OIG also found that GSA's Office of Chief Financial Officer published the Agency 

Financial Report with numerous errors related to improper payments and did not correct 

internal control deficiencies contributing to improper payments. If confim1ed, what will 

you do to ensure that the agency's internal controls are improved and reporting is 

accurate? 

.d! mlcrnal control ddlcicncks 

contnbuting 10 improper payments. l bdin c 1! I' lundamcnul that GSA nccurdtcly rclkct its 

tln,;ncwl d~Sposttwn in the AFR tmd tlhlt the AFR rc!kct the correction to the errors 

pomtd out by the 

Accountability 

40. At any point during your career, has your conduct as a federal employee or federal 

contractor ever been the subject of an inspector general, Government Accountability 

Office (GAO) or federal Jaw enforcement investigation? Please explain. 

·r;) the bcsl of my knowledge. my comlw:tas a federal employee a 1\:dcral contractor fh\S nul 

b~cn !he subject of nny such im estigDtion. 

41. At any point during your career has your conduct as a federal contractor been subject to 

suspension or debarment proceedings by with the federal government? Please explain. 

Tn the hcst or my knowledge, my conduct n' federal cotHrJctor 

~n: .. pcnsion <H' debm·mcnt proceedings, 

nc\ cr been subject to 

42. On June 21, 2017, the GSA Office oflnspector General (GSA OlG) released a report of 

investigation finding that the previous GSA Administrator, Denise Turner Roth, retaliated 

against a whistleblower that made a protected disclosure ofviolations of several laws, 

gross mismanagement, gross waste of funds, and abuse of authority. Protecting 

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whistleblower confidentiality is of the utmost importance to this Committee, and is 

particularly important at GSA in the wake of these findings. 

a. How do you plan to implement policies within the GSA to encourage employees to 

bring constructive suggestions forward without the fear of reprisal? 

If conilrmcd, it \\ou!d be my goal to crcaw an ell' mntmcnt wb~rc all GSA employees lee! sal'c 

disclosing waste. ti·aud. and abuse lndJvtzltwls '' lw c,Hnc fnrward ;ts whistleblmvcrs "Ill be 

treated fairly and arc an im alnablc asset to agcncic, amlthc la>;paycr 

b. Do you commit without reservation to work to ensure that any whistleblower within 

GSA does not face retaliation? 

c. Do you commit without reservation to take all appropriate action if notified about 

potential whistleblower retaliation? 

43. Please describe specific examples regarding how you have worked to implement 

Inspector General and/or Government Accountability Office recommendations during 

your tenure in government. 

t '' ould characlcnzc my rdationship '' t!h the Go\ crnmcnt Acconnt,\bility Ofiicc (Gi\0). the 

Inspectors General (lGs), and other oversight bodies to he mcrcdibly productive, :md l apprecwte 

the insight, rcl'ommcndntions nnd ;,afCguards they prm ide, While the policv din:ctor for the 

House Committee on Small Buomc:.s, I worked closely 1'ith GAO on a s~rics ofh~arings to 

ensure that the open rcconuncndauon~ for SBA were addressed, I alsn regularly mel'' i!b the 

SBA !G. Peg Gustal\on, and her staff 

When !last served in the Exccuti1 e Branch. I valued my partnerships with the lG and GAO. i\ 

notabk c:<amplc of my cffon to implement TG rccommcmintions would be my work on !he Gctlt 

Right em>rts at GSA in 2005 and 2006. The GSA and DoD Inspectors Gcnerul had doctmtented 

problems at GSA with improper sole source contrncb. mi:,use of , .. mal! bu:c;itwss contr3cts. 

out-of-;;cope orders being placed agamst contracts, and Anti-Deficiency i\ct violations, The 

auditors a!tributcd thetr !in dings lOan mciTcctivc sy;;tcm of irm:rnal management controls and 

contract personnel priontt7ing customer preference over proper procurement procedures. 

To address these j;;,ues, l worked wnh the CiSA Conumssioncrs and the Regional Administrator;, 

to: l) communicate that lililurc to follow tile law would not be tolcrat.:d: 2) identify areas whcr~ 

contracting sp~cialists perceived a111biguity and pro1 ide clarity r.:gardmg exp<'ctaiion; and 

policy: 3) engage in workforce training tnrgding izkntiiicd !irilurcs nr wcaknc:<scs: 4) implcnwnt 

an ongo!ug :,eries lnanagclntnl n:~views i(kntify othL'r outstanding issue:,; 5) 

t\:align chams and performance plans to cnsm<.: that contract specialists were c\aluated 

on the quality of their \\ork: 6) commrmicatc with contractors regarding the proper proccd\lres to 

follow should a task onkr appear to exceed to scop<! nf !he ct>ntract; 7) develop the Schedules 

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~Ltbrarv :n ass•st contmctnn.: oHicers m makm!! scope ddcJ mmations. 8) mstitnle regular 

mcetmg' with the DoD to it;s,nc that any DoD ~specific rcqmrement~ or Emding tssucs were 

.tpprupn:!tcly addressed by GS \:and 9) engage m ongoing dwloguc with tlw lnsp~:c1ur General 

so that alltssues could be addres:,ed pn)mp!ly, thus risk 10 the taxrMycr. As ..1 result of 

tlus procc~s. each of GS/\'o, cthtomer support centers JKIS;;<:tl amhts. GSA continues tn 

have regular prog1mn nlnnng~n\cnl tevJcws. cngngc m !Jrgeted trnlnmg~ and tnaint;:-tin n1any of 

these processes. 

44. What is your view of the role of the GSA OJG? If con finned, what steps would you take 

to establish a working relationship with the Inspector General? 

The GSA !G rs an incredible re<>omce that a!lo\\ s GSA to better mc~t Its statutory mission by 

rmproving th~ pcrfbrmancc of GSA programs, incn;asing acconnwbi!lly. anJ .:n~uring the 

mtcgrity of GSA's programs and opera! tons I have ahvnys had a posit:\ rebtionship wlth 

Inspectors Gcnerul of the agcncr.:s l have served, Ill :Hidirion to' aluing \herr paruwrsiHp 

during my nine years workmg hn Congress. 

Smcc i returned to GSA, !have met with the ln<pcctur several \I me'> my c:rpacity ,1s 

s~mor advisor and us Whit.: ! louse Limson. Tb~ Oflicc of the lnspcdor Gcncwl hdp,~d me 

prov"k training It> all GSA poi!flcal appmntcc' tht: role ol the tG, and the n::sponsibility of all 

GSA cmployc~s to coopct ate ;;ompktdy with the lf con finned, I would !\:peat 

tl11s !raining new appointees JOI!I tile ngcncy. 

Further, if'conlinncd, l would hope to me<:! rcgulmJ:, ll'ith the lG lo ensure that her oflkc has 

access !0 the documents, pcnpk illld rcoources the: need Ill pcrfcJml their 

encourage all GSA employees w coopcrale litlly with the !G. address their a 

prompt and manner. 

45.Jn May 2017, the GSA Office oflnspector General released its semi-annual report and 

identified several management challenges including acquisition programs, implementing 

GSA's mobile workforce strategy, financial operations, implementing GSA's enterprise 

risk management framework, technology transfonnation, and GSA's real property 

operations. 

a. Do you commit that, ifconfim1ed, you will work to ensure that GSA addresses the 

management challenges identified by GSA OIG? 

46. If confirmed, do you commit to ensuring that all recommendations made by the Inspector 

General are reviewed, responded to, if necessary, and, unless the agency justifies its 

disagreements with the recommendations, implemented to the fullest extent possible 

within a reasonable time period? 

'r\.'!.1 

V. Relations with Congress 

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47. Do you agree without reservation to comply with any request or summons to appear and 

testify before any duly constituted committee of Congress if you are confirmed? 

Yn 

48. Do you agree without reservation to make any subordinate official or employee available 

to appear and testify before, or provide information to, any duly constituted committee of 

Congress if you are confirmed? 

49. Do you agree without reservation to comply fully, completely, and promptly to any 

request for documents, communications, or any other agency material or information 

from any duly constituted committee of the Congress if you are confirmed? 

Y..::~ 

VI. Assistance 

50. Are these answers your own? Have you consulted with GSA or any other interested 

parties? If so, please indicate which entities. 

Yes 1 these answers nrt: my O\Vn, i 

"'ppm! in prcpanng lll} answer, .. 

C1H1Si.!ltcd prnfcssionc1l~ at GSA for 

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U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

Minority Pre-Hearing Questionnaire 

For the Nomination of Emily Murphy to be 

Administrator, General Services Administration 

I. Nomination Process and Conflicts oflnterest 

I. Has the President or his staff asked you to sign a confidentiality or non-disclosure 

agreement? 

No. the only non-disclosure st,ltemcnb! hnH~ srgncd since l arn\cd at GSA 1\Crc for bnclJqg, 

that mcludcd procurement scnsiti\ c mformatlorL 

2. Has the President of his staff asked you to pledge loyalty to the President or the 

Administration? 

3. During your tenure have you asked any federal employee or potential h1rc to pledge loyalty 

to the President, Administrution or any other government official? 

H. Background of Nominee 

4. Do you seek out dissenting views and how do you encourage constructive critical dialogue 

with subordinates? 

l believe '1cws prov1dc ll11[W!1ant mt(mnatwn and pcrspccttves, \\ luch nltinutcly 

10 better dcctswn nmkmg. Willie working!()!' the Commlt!c'c on Smail Business and f(n·thc 

Comtmllec on An111:d Sen!lces in the Hou.;c of Reprcs011tatil .:;;, J would ;;c:d out group<; that had 

oppo>ing 1 icwpoint,; to gMncr fccdba.:lc. and \'.or ked colhthora!J\ ely wnh both Rcpubl;cnn and 

Dcmocwt staff to rdine b,ucs. As try t\> soh cit candid !Ccdb:1ck n·om subonlmatcs 

hy expressly ~tatmg: that I want tn knttw th\,~1r tru~ opntion~ thoughts, and rh~·d I don't w;Jnt 

them agree wtth me ~inwly for the _,nkc ofagt·.:eing l would much rather ,1bout probkms 

qmchly so that they can ctthcr be mitig<~!z'd or addrc'>scd promptly. 

5. Please give examples of times in your career when you disagreed with your superiors and 

aggressively advocated your position. Were you ever successful? 

lfconlln11cd, l will continut: to ,Jggrcs:.ivdy advocate for wh<>! l hdtevc right l h:nc done so 

Ill the pa:,t. "hcthcr working in the ;ector, m the House of Repr~sentati\ ~s. or 

serving in the ['lccul!vc Bmnch. As an C\amplc. l iH.hocmcd .1gamst mw poLlical appointee 

!!lV<llwd "1th :.uspensioo uml ddHrmcnt decisions, bc·cause l believe th;n 1esponsibility 

Lletenmnntiom shoukl be made by trained c&.:cr employees to avoid any appcmam·c nf political 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 22 
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influence on rcsponstbility dctcm1inations. Further, 1 successfully able to instst upon 

compliance with FACA, terminating an advisory cornmiuee I hat l dtd not hclic'e complwd with 

the spiril of the law. When a superior signed a contract ami then attcmpkd to make one of my 

,ubordinates ratify the contract, I objected vociferously and the contrnct was tennmmcd. 

6. Please list and describe examples of when you made politically difficult choices that you 

thought were in the best interest of the country. 

Each of the decisions rcfi:1enccd abov<: required tilm l stand up ltl the AdminisiHttot or 

Commissw11cr of my agency, ''hich is ;llways polnically difficult l also coopera~~:d with the FBI 

when th<ey lltVCSltgatcd misconduct by a pnor GSA Ciucf o( swrr llowC\ cr, the most politically 

vobttlc issue 1 C\ er !i1ecd mvolved the im·estigatHlllS COIH.luctcd by the Inspector CicnernL Ollie•: 

of Special Counsel, and the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight into the 

thcn-Admmistrator. including the fimlmg that she \'Iolatcd the Hmch Act. My coopcmt10n with 

lfl\CStigatmg bod<cs \\a,l the right decision for the country, bcc;msc the Amcnc,m people deserve 

to have confidence that their gowrnment is actmg in their best interests. However the dccis10n 

cost me lh~mb, jon opponunittcs, and led to publtc anacks on my competence. 

7, What would you consider your greatest successes as a leader? 

Whik no success is completely mine· I've always been fortunate to have wcmderful collcaguco.-

the Collowmg arc cxvmplcs or successes. 

<> Working with the Department elf Homeland Security to co-chair the contmgcncy 

contracting working group and create the Contingency Contract in;,: Corp:; so that 

agencies could better respond to disasters: 

" l'articip.nmg in the succcs;.fulmergcr oftbc Federal Supply Service and tht: Federal 

Service. wlHch created the Federal Acquisiilon Scrvi.:c 

<> Ensuring tlmt GSA \\,t,; able to pas_.; the join~ DoD-GSA lG in 2006 that h~tmd ali 

~kvcn of GSA\ Cusl(lmcr Support Centers be compliant: 

" Estab!ishmg the Procurement lvbn;;gcmcnt Review process at GSA so that education. 

ptllicy tl!ld cump!tnncc issues could be promptly idcntifkd and addressed: 

e Ncgothlling and stgnmg a Mcmorrmdum of Understanding wtth DoD which reestablished 

!he contracting rdution~hlp between th~ agencies, and \\hich identified 24 action it~n1s 

aimed at in1provmg :1cquisition proccs~e.s: 

,. lncrcasmg the traming: available to tb.: thcn-R.OOO civilian con!racl specialists wbilc 

rcdu~.:mg the cost for that training and r ... ~sourccs at the Defense Acquisition 

• ~ourdng initi3ttvc for wirdcs~ services and cxprt~ss and ground 

dell\ cry contracts. ca~h of which rc>ttltcd ol' over 

" C\>ilaboraling with minority staff. the sw!Toi' tllhcr committees. 

counterparts tu succe;;slhlly pnss contmcting reform my 

Chairman. 

In response to question 10(8) on your biographical questionnaire, you mentioned that you were 

the subject of a discrimination complaint You indicated that pursuant to 29 CFR § 1614, a 

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formal complaint of discrimination was filed on March 2, 2007. A court name is not applicable 

in this instance. The complaint was processed by the GSA EEO program. The matter was 

entitled, McGill v. the General Services Administration. The complainant was Therese McGill, 

and Emily Murphy, the alleged responsible management official (RMO). You indicated that 

upon completion of the investigation, the complainant requested an immediate final decision 

from GSA in accordance with 29 CFR § J614.JIO(b). A February 27,2008, final agency 

decision (FAD) on the merits issued by GSA's Office of Civil Rights found no discrimination on 

each of the issues in the complaint. 

Question lOC requested that you "please identity and provide details for any proceedings or civil 

litigation that involve actions taken or omitted by you, or alleged to have been taken or omitted 

by you, while serving in your official capacity." Your response referenced a June 2, 2017 letter 

from GSA's Deputy General Counsel, which stated: 

The complaint captioned as McGill v. General Services Administration, Agency Case No. 

07COVTM-I, alleged race and age discrimination when the complainant was subjected to a 

hostile work environment, derogatory comments and detailed to another organization within the 

Agency to perform duties below her grade level. You were named as a Responsible Management 

Official (RMO) in this complaint. However, a February 27, 2008 Final Agency Decision (FAD) 

on the merits issued by OCR found no discrimination on each issue in the complaint. The FAD 

was not contested; therefore, the FAD became the final action on the case. 

This response does not sufficiently identity or provide details of the alleged actions taken or 

omitted by you for the proceedings. For example, it does not explain what actions and/or 

comments the complainant alleged that gave rise to the complaint. 

Please supplement your response with documents andior infom1ation sufficient to identify the 

details for this proceeding including a description of the actions taken or omitted by you, or 

alleged to have been taken or omitted by you, while serving m your official capacity including, 

but not limited to the complaint in this matter. 

::,mccrdy apoiOi,!ll~ t(,r any confusmn catmcd b:- Hl\!t;t! rc,:poosc. In an dli:1rt to obtain 

additional infonnatlOn, another seclrcll was conducted by the Ollkc ofGcner•1l Cmm-:cl ami tlw 

Of!ice of Civil Right> to no avail. The Of!lcc of Ch il HJght> inltmncd tb~ OHkc of 

General Counsd tlmt they do not s~nd tiles ro the record center <1nd thm they dc,troy Ilks lour 

years a!lcr the linal .1c11on in accordance" ith the record rctcntmn poilcy. 

At my H.'qucst, the Ofllce of Gencr,ll Counsel also comackd Brend,; Ward. 0 former GSi\ 

'l!iorncy whn lmnd!cd liK' 2007 !Y!s. W,cnl had a dr,d't copy 

asked to pro' ide in cunnection wttll the alkgatmns m tlw complaint 

management oflkbil, Gctlrgt: Barday's artidavit l conduct~d 't:nrch my p.::rsonal cm;1il 

accoum and discovered another dnft of my afliduvn. The drali ,lniduvi! st~ics the foliO\\ 

1ssu~ wa~ ;;\cccpted for 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 24 
225 

··;.;complamant alleges she was discriminat<:d against based on bc:r :1gc (58; DOLl 12 31 194R) 

.md race (African American) when she was det~ilcd for 120-·dDy dcvdopmenwl as>tgnmcm lo 

perform duties that ,;he !'ch were not cmmncnsuratc to her grade k:vd, GS-15 Progr;lm Analyst'' 

1 bchevc the GSA 011kc o! General Counsel has now provided ,:opies oftlwsc documents to the 

Committe<:. I am una\\ arc of any other r~kvant documents. 

III. Policy Questions 

Real Property 

8. On March 23,2017, GSA determined that Tmmp Old Post Office LLC is in "full 

compliance" with its lease with GSA for the Old Post Office property in Washington, D.C., 

and that "the Lease is valid and in full force and effect." 

a, In December 2016, the Deputy Commissioner of GSA's Public Building Service 

indicated that "GSA assesses that Mr. Tmmp will be in breach of the lease agreement 

the moment he takes office on January 20, 2017, unless he fully divests himself of all 

financial interests in the lease for the Washington D.C. hotel." On March 20, 2017, 

Tmmp Old Post Office LLC submitted an amendment to their operating agreement 

divesting President Tmmp from Tmmp Old Post Office LLC. GSA's March 23, 

2017, determination agrees that the March 20, 2017, divestiture satisfies the terms of 

the lease, consistent with the representations made by the Deputy Commissioner of 

GSA's Public Buildings Service in December 2016., who indicated to House 

Committee on Oversight and Government reform staff that "GSA assesses that Mr. 

Trump will be in breach of the lease agreement the moment he takes office on 

January 20, 2017, unless he fully divests himself of all financial interests in the lease 

for the Washington D.C. hotel." Please explain GSA's apparent reversal of its 

position regarding the Old Post Office building lease. 

Ncnher l nor any other political appomtec at GSA has hecn rn \\ .ty consnl!cd rcgardmg: the 

commcting oriicer's decision thar the Trump Old Post On!cc LLC f\;r the Old Post Oflkc was in 

comrliuncc wtth the tcnns o!'thc lease, although I was m.sured that tile decision \\ilS made by a 

career contracting oftker in consultation with tile Office of Gener.1l CtmnscL I IEl\ e been further 

assmed th;ll the administration of the lease followed, and continue:< to follow. otamhlrd processes. 

Given thnt I have not been im olvcd rn the dcctSlO!L l am un.tblc to prondc a more substantive 

~nswer, bllt if cnnrirm~d. l "ould be hr.1ppy to nuke the Dcpury Commissioner m m!able to 

explain the reported rc'mm ks. 

b. Since January 20,2017. have you had any role in reviewing or approving any internal 

or external communications regarding GSA's lease with the Trump Old Post Office 

LLC for the Old Post Office property in Washington? Please explain. 

No. J have not hud any role in reviewing or approving any micrnal or external commumcntions 

regardmg GSA's lease w!th the Tnnnp Old Post Otl!ce LLC for the Old Post Ot1icc rroperty m 

Washington. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 25 
226 

Travel 

c. Since January 20, 2017, have you had any communications wtth any current or 

former White House officials regarding GSA's lease with the Trump Old Post Office 

LLC for the Old Post Office property in Washington? Please explain. 

d. If confirmed as Administrator, will you cooperate with the GSA Office of inspector 

General's ongoing review of GSA's lease with the Trump Old Post Office LLC for the 

Old Post Office property in Washington'! 

9. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration 

(GSA) established requirements for federal agencies regarding the use of government 

aircraft, including executive travel on these aircraft. Please describe your understanding of 

GSA's role in enforcement and oversight of federal employees' compliam:e with these rules? 

\VIulc GSA 'cts the lim c! regula! lOllS for the f'c(km! government. it IS up tu individual 

tJgenct~s tn ensure thal !heir L"Hlpioyc~::\j including t:xenHi\ es, an: ln con1phancc \\ Hh thos~ 

rcgulawms. GSA also co-ch;ms thc Senior Travel Of!kinl Council, \1 btch m.:ct'i quar!crly. and 

provide;; ag.::m:ws wiili mfonnalion. guid,mcc and bcsl practices on bm' to best implement the 

Federal Travel Regulations. 

A!! GSA cmployc;;s th;1t travd a'> pan clfthcH·Job are rcqttJrcd to take trainmg and manngcrs take 

additionnltmtmnrz. lf confinm:d a> GSA Admnll>tr,rtor, wt!l that nil GSA <employees 

arc occoumablc l(H' adhering to the travel and ctiltc' r..:gulauons. ln addit10n, ! wil! work to lind 

cost dfcctl' c altcmatn cs and reduce the need lor 1!\r~>t:l employees. 

Election Commission 

10. On May 11,2017, the President issued a Presidential Executive Order on the Establishment 

of Presidential Advisory Commission on Election lntCl,'Tity. The Executive Order states that 

"to the extent permitted by law, and subject to the availability of appropriations, the General 

Services Administration shall provide the Commission with such administrative services, 

funds, facilities, staff, equipment, and other support services as may be necessary to carry out 

its mission on a reimbursable basis." 

a. Please describe your role to date in supporting the Presidential Advisory Commission 

on Election Integrity? 

Personally. r have no role. As we do wHb many other board commisstons. ClSA provides 

administrative support to lhc Cl'mtmssmn on a re11nbmsablc baoi'i. 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 26 
227 

b. What is your understanding of the role of the GSA Administrator in supporting the 

Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity? 

GSA provides administrative support w the commission. The GSA Admmiqra!Or has no role irr 

pwviding this suppori. 

Whistleblower protections 

II. Please describe any previous experience--in the public or private sector--with handling 

whistleblower complaints, and what steps you took to ensure those individuals did not Face 

retaliation and that their claims were thoroughly investigated? 

While employed wtth th~ Honse of Representatives. l frequently spoke\\ ith- ami prniectetl 

whis!lcblowers. ln some cases. snch as that of tbc Department of Veterans /\fl:1rrs .Senior 

Procurement E:>-ccutivc, Jan Frye, testified before Committees or Subcommittees'' here l was 

c~ounsel. ln other ca,;es. tht: indl\ 1doals w~rc 11 tiling to pro1 1de m!(nma!inn 10 the Committee, 

bmnot to 'peak p11bltcly, and I will continue tn pmtect their prn ~cy. To that end. I cnnnot 

provide a comprehensive Ji..;t, however I wlillry to prm ide c~dmpks. In my mnc working 

!(H· Congress, l spoke with whistlcbloM:rs crsc as impropnct•cs m Biomedical 

Advanced Rc'search 3!ld Dcvclopmt'nl Authonty SBA employment pr,JCtiCCS. 

compliance 11 tlh section l5(k) of! he Sm~ll Act at number of ,tg.cocics, nnd the lhlY 

the Dcprlrlment of Health rmd Hmmm Scrvwc:s was awarding task order contracts, In c:tch of 

these cases, ! coordinated lfll c;,trgations wnh rnmority on my cmploymg committee. and 

often collaborated with other committees. Further, I Cll(lrdinated my efforts wttlr the rcln·ant 

Inspectors Gcnt'raL in nu ca~c did ! n~\ cal mm1t~ <Jf the v;hist!eblowcl \V]thout that 

individual',; consent. and l111ndc :am~ thrll any mquirks made did not re\ cal that mdi1 idual ·, 

identity. 

When pre\ iously <H GSA. I prot~cted the contracting officer who did not w1sh lo rarif'y n contract 

signed by a superior, and protected my employees when they rdcntiikd "rongdoing in the 

agency, whcth<:r r.1r not they 'ought whistkblowcr protection. 

~v1ost rcc::ntiy, i wns a\varc of n whistieblower compbmt dt GSA and tlw alh;gntlons of 

rctribwion against tile whistkbluwcr by the prior Adminhlrator. A~ a senior alht,or, ! lwd no 

,mthoriry to make any decisions in the oul\'onK of tillS case. but did make inquires to ensure that 

the agency \HIS fully cooperJting wtlh the Oflice ofSpt:cial Ct,unsd and Inspector General. 

Further, I \H11 ked to cnsme thm the <tlkgations were addressed pan the reorganization nfthc 

Tcchl!ology Tuns formation Scr\ ice. 

12. If confirmed, how will you ensure that whistle blower complaints are properly investigated? 

As I referenced in the earlier answer on diflicult political decisions. while l have never claimed 

whistlcblo\\ cr status. l am weH aware of bow dill\cult •t ,·an be lor individuals to step forward, 

but also of ho\\ crucial it is that they do so. Smcc retummg to GSA, l have quadrupkd the ethics 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 27 
228 

trmning provided to political ,rppotntc~;s, ami coordmatcd Imming for all appmntc;e> '' ith llw 

Inspector General I r conlinncd. ! will work with the Inspector GeneraL <~nd tbc Office of 

Special Connsd to ensure that GSA cnoperatcs tully with any invc'itiga:i<m, and to crcdlc an 

environment where all employees and contractors arc cncour;Jgt:Lito report '' astc, fraud and 

abuse. 

IV. Relations with Congress and the Public 

13. If confirmed, how will you make certain that you will respond in a timely manner to Member 

requests for information? 

If' conlinncd, I will ensure that GSA is rcspollSli'C to nil Congressional rcqucs!s for !ll!ormation 

:ll1d that GSA acknowledges the rcce1pt of r.:qm:sts <~nd pmv:dt>s updates tn Congress on the 

o;ll!lus of these requests. 

14. If confirmed, do you agree without reservation to reply to any reasonable request for 

infonnation from the Ranking Member of any duly constituted committee of the Congress? 

15. If confirmed, do you agree without reservation to reply to any reasonable request for 

information from members of Congress? 

16. If confirmed, do you commit to take all reasonable steps to ensure that you and your agency 

comply with deadlines established for requested information? 

y,,:,, 

17. If confim1ed, do you commit to protect subordinate officials or employees from reprisal or 

retaliation for any testimony, briefings or communications with members of Congress? 

18. If confirmed, will you ensure that your staff will fully and promptly provide information and 

access to appropriate documents and officials in response to requests made by the 

Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Research Service? 

19. If confirmed, will you agree to work with representatives from this Committee and the GAO 

to promptly implement recommendations for improving [agency's] operations and 

effectiveness? 

20. If confirmed, will you direct your staff to fully and promptly respond to Freedom of 

Information Act requests submitted by the American people? 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 28 
229 

21. If con finned, will you ensure that political appointees are not inappropriately involved in the 

review and release of Freedom of lnfonnation Act requests? 

22. Do you agree that exemptions under FOIA do not apply to congressional oversight requests? 

V. Assistance 

23. Are these answers your own? Have you consulted with GSA or any other interested parties? 

If so, please indicate which entities. 

Yes) these ~Hh\Ver;.; nrc rn.Y tnYn, 

;,uppun m pn:p.Hing my 

con~ulu:d \Vith profe::.siun~tis for leclmical 

!, Emily W. Murphy, hereby state that I have read the foregoing Pre-Hearing Questionnaire and 

Supplemental Questionnaires and that the infonnation provided therein is, to the best of my 

knowledge, current, accurate, and complete. 

This _ _2._dny ofOd-o~_. 2017 

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Page 29 
230 

Senator Thomas R. Carper 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Ms. Emily Murphy 

Nominations of Jeff T.H. Ponto be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administratot·, General Services Administration 

Wednesday, October 18, 2017 

GSA Oversight over the Old Post Office lease 

1. As you know, there have been many questions about GSA's determination that the 

conflict of interest provisions in the lease for the Trump International Hotel are being 

complied with. 

During our introductory meeting, you said that no GSA political appointee had anything 

to do with that determination. Could you please confirm that for the record? 

Correct_ no political appointee was involved in the Old Post Office lease determination. 

Will you commit to provide members of this Committee with any information needed for 

oversight purposes relating to this, or any other real property in GSA's portfolio'). 

Yes. if confirmed !look forward to working with this Committee. 

Presidential Transition 

2. GSA plays a critical role in presidential transitions by providing space to transition teams 

and the president-elect, and by playing a key role in the coordination oftransition 

activities across the government. 

What will you do to gather lessons learned on GSA's role in the 2016 transition and to 

build on that experience to ensure that the next transition goes smoothly? 

If confirmed, I will ensure that GSA continues to comply with the Presidential Transition 

Act of 1963 and the Edward 'Ted' Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions 

Improvements Act of2015. It is my understanding that GSA captures lessons learned 

during every Presidential Transition and utilizes those lessons to improve processes and 

procedures for future transitions. This will require collaboration with federal partners, 

transition teams, and subject matter experts to compile lessons learned and identify new 

challenges. If confirmed, I would like to task the prior Federal Transition Coordinator to 

lead this effort, 
231 

Senator Steve Daines 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Ms. Emily Murphy 

Nominations of JeffT.H. Ponto be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office ofl'crsonncl Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Services Administration 

Wednesday, October 18,2017 

1. In 2013, GSA sold the old Batten Courthouse in Billings. MT to a buyer that by all 

counts didn't have the ability to make good on its over $2.2 million loan. Sure enough. 

the buyer made no payments, and the asbestos filled building nearly transferred to the 

local government's ownership as both a financial and health liability. How would you 

change GSA's disposal policy to ensure only creditworthy buyers can purchase buildings 

with health hazards~ If confirmed. will you ensure that GSA will work with my staff to 

draft a bill to make the situation in Billings doesn't happen again? 

Yes, if confirmed, I pledge to work with you and your staff and GSA's Public Buildings 

Service. to identity areas to improve the disposal process and public sale of unused and 

undcrutilized real property. 

2. If you are confirmed, how would you standardize GSA practices and policies so that 

contracting o!Ticers apply these practices and policies in a consistent. even-handed 

manner? How should federal contractors who believe they are being treated less 

favorably than their competitors by their contracting oftlcers escalate the problem to GSA 

Managcmcnt0 

If confirmed, I will strengthen the Procurement Management Review process in order to 

standardize GSA practices and policies to ensure that contracting officers apply federal 

statutes and regulations evenhandedly and in full compliance. I will ensure that policies 

are clarified and training enhanced. Further, when federal contractors believe they are 

being treated less favorably than their competitors. they should avail themselves of 

GSA's Office of the Procurement Ombudsman, the GSA Competition Advocate, or the 

GSA Office of Small Business Utilization. Each of these offices has the ability to 

appropriately escalate issues, while avoiding the issues identified by the Office of the 

Inspector General in Report Number A 120 l6l/Q/6/Pl3003. that identified some 

inappropriate management intervention in procurement in 2013. 

3. How do you plan to address the issue of delays caused by an excessive focus on 

catalog-level pricing? What is your position on order-level pricing, and increased 

competition at the order-level') 

If confirmed, as part of my focus on reducing duplication, I would like to use systems 

modernization and process rcengineering to speed the initial contract award for GSA· s 
232 

Multiple Award Schedules program. I support increased competition at the task order 

level on multiple award contracts. and believe contracts like the OASIS Small Business 

contract demonstrate the value of increasing task order level competition. especially in 

areas where the statement of work may substantially vary between task orders. 
233 

Senator Kamala Harris 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Ms. Emily Mm·phy 

Nominations of JcffT.H. Ponto be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Sen•iccs Administration 

Wednesday, October 18,2017 

Calexico West Land Port o[Entry Project 

The current Calexico West Port of Entry (POE) was constructed in 1974. It is outdated 

and badly in need of updating. Wait times for passenger vehicles and pedestrian crossers 

at the Calexico West POE cost Imperial County and the State of California jobs, 

economic activity, and tax revenue. 

1. The GSA listed the Calexico West Port of Entry project as a priority on its new 

construction list in the GSA's proposed FY17 budget. The project was removed as a 

priority from the nevv- construction list in GSA's FY18 budget proposal. Will you 

consider reiterating the importance of the project to appropriators by adding the project to 

the list of new construction priorities in GSA's FY 19 budget proposal or through a 

budget addendum to the FY18 budget proposal'? 

Tt is my understanding that the Calexico West LPOE is a priority for GSA. and that Phase 

I of this project is scheduled for completion in 20!8. I further understand that GSA 

requested funding for Phase II in FY17, but this was not funded by Congress. If 

confirmed, lam committed to working with you and GSA's partner agencies to seek the 

funding to complete this project. 

Transfer of GSA-managed Property to Citv and County of San Francisco for Permanent 

Supportive Housing for the Homeless 

The City and County of San Francisco is in the process to acquire and develop surplus 

property managed by GSA to provide permanent supportive housing for chronically 

homeless individuals. 

l. If confirmed, will you commit to help ensure the speedy completion of this transfer') 

Yes, if confirmed, I look forward to working with you and your staff on this important 

project. 

2. What arc your views on repurposing or transferring unused GSA-managed properties to 

state and local partners when there is a clear public benefit'? 
234 

I support Public Benefit Conveyances and the role they play in assisting GSA in 

removing properties from its portfolio and transferring them to state and local entities that 

will utilize them for a public benefit. 

3. If you are cont1rmed, will you commit to getting my office an assessment of all unused 

federal sites in California? 

Yes. if confirmed I look forward to working with you and your staff to provide this 

information. 
235 

Senator Heidi Heitkamp 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Ms. Emily Murphy 

Nominations of JeffT.H. Ponto he Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Services Administration 

Wednesday, October 18,2017 

I. In your opening statement, you mentioned shared services as a strategy you support for 

helping agencies reduce duplication in government activities. 

a. Please elaborate on the current state of the shared services initiative. including the 

role. authorities and resources levels of GSA's Office of Unified Shared Services 

Management (USSM), recent implementation progress, and any changes you 

anticipate in the way shared services are being implemented by the Trump 

Administration. 

The Unified Shared Service Management (USSM) office was created within the 

General Services Administration in 2015 to design the standards for more 

integrated solutions of administrative functions across lines of business. provide 

transparency into the performance of Federal Shared Service Providers to inform 

agency decision making, and to provide advice and guidance to agencies who are 

planning for the acquisition of new administrative solutions based on lessons 

learned and best practices. USSM's mission is to transform the way government 

does husiness internally to improve the way the government serves the American 

puhlic. 

Today, USSM is staffed with seven people and the President's budget proposes a 

$2 million appropriation to support the identification and prioritization of work 

that can be shared across government. USSM does not have the authority to 

direct agencies to move to shared services; however, USSM is a source of best 

practices, tools. and lessons learned to help guide agencies through the process of 

adopting a service provided by either a Federal or commercial provider. If 

confirmed, I would like to coordinate with Congress and OMB to explore the 

opportunity for GSA to take a leadership role in evaluating business cases for 

shared services. 

b. What do you see as the major harriers to shared services expansion, and how do 

you intend to address them~ 
236 

I believe that one of the key barriers to the adoption of shared services has been 

the failure to accurately articulate requirements in a coordinated and consistent 

way across government. Additionally. in the areas where the government has 

moved to shared services. it invested in systems without planning for transition, 

and failed to leverage best practices and processes for managing the change 

Vvithin their organizations. 

If confirmed, to address these problems, I would promote the USSM methodology 

and governance structure to drive requirements definition. and to work with the 

Federal community to agree on standard business rules for common functions. To 

address the issue of transition cost, I would like to work with Congress on 

approaches like the Technology Modernization Fund to help move agencies from 

legacy systems to shared services, and to ensure that new shared services 

contemplate funding transition costs at the time of initial award. For example. in 

the area of telecommunications, the Networx contract vehicle addressed 

transition to the ultimate successor contract when it was initially awarded len 

years ago, which will make the transition to Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions 

(E!S) possible. 

c. Docs USSM have sufficient authority and resources to perform the role you 

envision'' 

To drive real change in the sharing of administrative services across the Federal 

Government, it will require continued leadership from both Congress and the 

Administration. Leveraging this strong leadership, I believe USSM has sufficient 

resources and authorities to move the program forward, but would welcome the 

opportunity to work with you on potential future reforms. 

2. Since 2003. management and divestment of Federal real property has been a repeat 

offender on GAO's "High-Risk List". Regarding the disposal of excess and underutilized 

real property, GAO has identified a lack of reliable data, complex disposal processes, 

costly requirements, competing interests and limited accessibility as hurdles to a more 

expedient disposal process. 

a. In your opinion, what can GSA do to encourage agencies to dispose of 

underutilized properties and what can Congress do to expedite the disposal 

process? 

If confirmed, I will work with the Public Building Reform Board and the Federal 

Real Property Council to identify unused and underutilized properties, and then to 

expedite the disposal of these properties. I will also work with our tenant 
237 

agencies to examine how we can reduce their real property footprint by 

identifying areas for consolidation and disposaL It is my understanding that over 

I 00 million square feet of GSA leases will expire in the next five years. This 

creates an opportunity to collaborate with Congress and agencies to consolidate 

operations, but it will require frank discussions about agency requirements. 

Likewise, if confirmed, l would explore opportunities to use these expiring leases 

to save taxpayer money, either by reducing reliance on short term leases or by 

analyzing opportunities for ground lease leasebacks or discounted purchase 

options. 

Given that the new expedited disposal authorities were provided by Congress as 

part of the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of2016 and the Federal Property 

Reform Act of 2016 but have not yet been used, I would like to have the 

opportunity to assess how well these work, and then work with Congress if 

additional reforms are necessary. 

b. With the many responsibilities as a Director, if confirmed, what issues will be top 

priority? 

lf confirmed, in the area of real property, one of my priorities is to improve 

access, transparency and data quality in the FRPP. By having a better 

understanding of what the government owns or leases, we can better manage 

these properties. In addition, I plan to work closely with OMB and the Public 

Buildings Reform Board when it is established to identify underutilized property 

and either consolidate or dispose of these assets. Finally, at the suggestion of 

Senator Carper, if confirmed I will request a standing meeting with GAO to focus 

on the outstanding risk list items. 

3. A signi fie ant challenge faced by agencies in the divestment and management of Real 

Property assets is the cost of maintenance and environmental remediation activities. On 

many occasions, GAO has found that the cost to agencies in deferred maintenance and/or 

legal requirements, such as the preservation of historic properties is higher than potential 

proceeds from sale of the property. 

a. Based on these findings, what actions can GSA take to aid agencies in mitigating 

these challenges associated with Real Property Management and disposal? 

If confirmed, I am committed to utilizing all the tools available to GSA. including 

new authorities provided by FASTA to reduce the Federal Government's real 

property footprint. 
238 

Ranking Member Claire McCaskill 

Post-Hearing Questions for the Record 

Submitted to Ms. Emily Murphy 

Nominations of Jeff T.H. Pon to be Director, Office of Personnel Management; Michael J. 

Rigas to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; and Emily W. Murphy to 

be Administrator, General Services Administration 

\Vednesday, October 18, 2017 

COOPERATION WITH CONGRESS 

Q: Do you agree that FO!A exemptions do not apply to congressional oversight requests? 

Yes. 

Q: Will you pledge to copy the Ranking Member and/or staff on all official correspondence 

with the Committee and ensure that such correspondence is transmitted to the Ranking 

Member's o!Tice contemporaneous with transmittal to the Committee? 

Yes. 

Q: Will you pledge to ensure that all meetings. briefings, and other official engagements 

with the Committee staff include both the majority and minority? 

Yes. 

WHTSTLEBLOWER PROTECTION 

Q: What specific steps will you take to promote a culture where employees can raise 

concerns to senior management. including directly to you') 

I take seriously the charge to uphold the highest ethical standards. As I said in my 

testimony before the committee at my nomination hearing. the lirst ovcrarching principle 

I will pursue if contirmcd is "to provide ethical leadership" at GSA. The Otiice of 

Government Ethics recently sent a letter reminding us that "the citizens we serve 

deserve to have confidence in the integrity of their Government [but the] public's trust is 

not guaranteed." I will strive to earn that trust every day. by creating a culture within 

GSA that puts the taxpayer first, encourages a diversity of opinions, values the 

contributions all employees, and promotes a safe culture for reporting misconduct. 

Recently, the GSA Inspector General cited the former GSA Administrator for retaliating 

against a whistlcblower regarding potential changes to the agency's Technology 

Transformation Service. 
239 

Q; Describe what steps you have taken and will take to address the IG's report and to 

prevent retaliation against whistlcblowers at GSA. 

As I stated in my policy questionnaire, I am well aware of how dit1icult it can be for 

individuals to step forward. but also of how crucial it is that they do so. Since returning 

to GSA earlier this year, l worked to quadruple the ethics training provided to political 

appointees, and coordinated training for all appointees with the Inspector GeneraL If 

confirmed, I will work with the Inspector GeneraL and the Office of Special Counsel to 

ensure that GSA cooperates fully with any investigation. and to create an environment 

where all employees and contractors arc encouraged to report waste, fraud and abuse. 

ACQUISITION REFORM 

Q: What actions should GSA take to improve outreach to the contractor community to 

ensure that qualified veteran-owned, minority-owned. women-owned, ruraL HUBZonc 

and other small businesses compete for contracts? 

If confirmed. l would work with the Small Business Administration. Small Business 

Procurement Advisory Council, Procurement Technical Assistance Centers. Small 

Business Development Centers, trade associations, and other third parties to ensure that 

small businesses. veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small 

businesses. woman-owned small businesses, economically-disadvantaged woman-owned 

small businesses, HUBZone business enterprises, rural businesses, 8(a) small businesses, 

and small disadvantaged businesses are: (!J better educated on the opportunities to 

compete for federal contracts; (2) easily identified on GSA contract vehicles. Further, l 

will continue the work on making the GSA solicitations more accessible to small 

businesses by adopting plain language. Finally, I will work to make sure that new 

contract Yehiclcs are designed to maximize competition, both at the contract and task 

order level, which will create more opportunities for these businesses. 

BOLSTERING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND CYBER SECURITY 

The Government Accountability Ot1icc (GAO) has extensively reported on the need for the 

federal government to reduce its reliance on legacy information technology systems. According 

to a 2016 GAO report, some agencies are still using decades-old IT systems. This failmc to 

modernize not only undermines the efficiency of federal agencies but also poses serious 

cyber-security risks to sensitive national security and other go\'ernment data. 

Q: If confirmed, what changes should GSA implement to assist its sister agencies in 

reducing their reliance on legacy IT systems? 

If confirmed, I hope to build upon the work GSA is doing to help Federal agencies reduce 

their reliance on legacy IT systems. First, l would do this by ensuring that contract and 
240 

service offerings look to the future and provide enhanced security, et1iciency, and ease to 

continue modernizing as technology evolves. For example, currently GSA is transitioning 

agencies from the legacy Networx contract, under which agencies purchased $1.79 

billion in network and telecommunications services in FY 2016. to a comprehensive 

solution-based contract vehicle called Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS). Second, 

pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget (OMR) M-16-19, I would support the 

roles assigned to GSA ·s Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP) serves ''as the 

managing partner of the Federal Government's data center line of business and data 

center shared services.'' Third. I hope to use the expel1ise within the Federal Acquisition 

Service's Technology Transformation Service (TTS) to assist agencies through a variety 

offerings to best achieve their missions with modern technology. For example, 

components ofTTS have an expertise in agile acquisition, cloud migration, and identity 

verification. Fourth, if Congress chooses to pass the Modernizing Government 

Technology (MGT) Act, I would look forward to using these new tools to partner with 

other agencies on modernization. Finally, over the years I have found that IT 

modernization is frequently inhibited due to regulations that are outdated and serve as 

barriers to entry for innovative companies, so,if confirmed. I would direct GSA, as a 

member of the Federal Acquisition Council, to work alongside with the Of1icc of Federal 

Procurement Policy, DOD, and NASA to review regulations that restrict modernization 

etTorts. 

FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY 

The Government Accountability Office has included federal real property management on its list 

of High Risk programs each year since 2003. This period has included three administrations and 

spanned the tenure of several GSA Administrators. 

Q: GSA is the primary agency responsible for addressing this high risk area. If confirn1ed, 

do you have confidence that you will be able to move federal real property management 

oJT GAO's High Risk list? How will you accomplish this goal? 

One way to address some of the issues on the GAO High Risk list is to utilize new 

authorities provided in the FAST Act. The legislation has given the Federal Government 

an opportunity to improve its management of real property and identify savings for the 

American taxpayer by inccntivizing the more effective use of real property. GSA has 

already begun outreach to other Executive branch agencies and collected real property 

data to enable the Public Buildings Reform Board to make smart real estate decisions. 
241 

VOTER INTEGRITY COMMISSION 

On May II, 2017, the President issued a Presidential Executive Order on the Establishment of a 

Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. The Executive Order states that "to the 

extent permitted by law. and subject to available appropriations. the General Services 

Administration shall provide the Commission with such administrative services, funds, facilities, 

staff, equipment, and other support services as may be necessary to carry out its mission on a 

reimbursable basis." You acknowledged in your policy questionnaire that GSA does, in tact, 

provide administrative support to the Commission on a reimbursable basis. 

Q: What specific administrative services has GSA provided to the Commission to date~ 

GSA has supported the Commission with travel arrangements, complying with Federal 

Advisory Committee Act requirements, assisting with the purchase of voter data from 

States, and purchasing of live web streaming services for Commission meetings. 

Q: What administrative services provided by GSA to the Commission are anticipated in the 

future? 

GSA anticipates similar support services to the Commission in the future. 

Q: What specific GSA facilities has the Commission utilized to date? 

The Commission has not utilized GSA space or facilities. 

Q: What GSA facilities are anticipated to be used by the Commission in the future? 

To date, the Commission has not communicated any current or future needs for GSA 

tacilities. 

Q: What specific GSA equipment and other support services has the Commission utilized to 

date~ 

No GSA equipment has been provided to the Commission. GSA has supported the 

Commission with travel arrangements, complying with Federal Advisory Committee Act 

requirements, assisting with the purchase of voter data from States, and purchasing of 

live web streaming services for Commission meetings. 

Q: What specific GSA equipment and other support services arc anticipated to be used by 

the Commission in the ti.Iturc0 

GSA does not anticipate any equipment use requests fi·om the Commission and 

anticipates similar support services to the Commission in the future. 
242 

Q: What is the total dollar amount of all GSA funding that has been expended to date to 

support the Election Integrity Commission'' 

GSA has not utilized any GSA funds to support the Commission. 

Q: What is the total dollar amount of anticipated GSA funding expended to support the 

activities of the Commission'' 

GSA docs not anticipate any GSA funds to be expended in support of the Commission. 

Q: What is the total dollar amount of reimbursements that GSA has received to date from the 

Commission? 

Thus far. GSA received $85,000 in reimbursements from the Oflice of the Vice President 

for support provided to the Commission. 

Q: What is the funding source for all reimbursements GSA has received to date from the 

Commission? 

GSA entered into an interagency agreement with the Oflice of the Vice President for 

reimbursement of GSA support to the Commission. 

Q: !low many GSA employees have staffed the Commission to date? 

GSA has dedicated portions of five (5) individuals' time to suppott the Commission. 

Q: Are there additional resources that GSA anticipates providing the Commission in the 

future? 

No. 

Q: What. if any. guidance or training has GSA given its employees stalling the Commission 

in terms of recordkecping practices that comply with the Federal Records Act and 

Presidential Records Act? 

GSA provided individuals within GSA supporting the Commission guidance on time and 

record keeping. 

Q: What, if any, instructions have GSA employees staffing the Commission received 

regarding the usc of private email accounts for otlicial Commission business? 

GSA provides all employees. including those supporting the Commission, with training 

on the usc of private emails. 
243 

Emily Webster Murphy 

Nominee to be Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration 

United State Senate Committee Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs 

Wednesday, October 18,2017 

United States Senator Roy Blunt 

Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member McCaskill, and distinguished members of the 

committee, I am pleased to submit for the record this statement of support for 

Emily W. Murphy who has been nominated by the President to serve as the 

Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration. 

I have confidence in Ms. Murphy's ability to reform and to lead the U.S. General 

Services Administration. In this role, she will have an opportunity to continue to 

advocate for common sense procurement policies that will save taxpayers money 

and increase efficiency in government. 

Ms. Murphy's experience serving as the U.S. General Services Administration's 

first Chief Acquisition Officer, policy director and senior counsel at the U.S. Small 

Business Administration, and counsel at the House Armed Services Committee 

make her uniquely qualified for the position for which she has been nominated. In 

addition to her government service, she has held executive positions at a 

technology startup company engaged in Federal contracting, and as a govenunent 

contracts attorney. During her more than two decades of being a dedicated public 

servant, Ms. Murphy has earned the respect and support of her colleagues. 

Throughout her career, Ms. Murphy has demonstrated her expertise in Federal 

contracting and acquisition policy. As a Missouri native, graduate of Smith 

College and the University of Virginia School of Law, Ms. Murphy has the 

requisite credentials necessary to lead the U.S. General Services Administration. 

I am honored to submit this statement of support for Emily. I sincerely hope this 

committee understands the quality and caliber of individual they are considering to 

lead the U.S. General Services Administration and move her nomination forward. 
244 

September 25.2017 

Chairman Ron Johnson 

National Association of Surety Bond Producers 

1140 19th Street NW, Suite 800. Washington, DC 20036-5104 

Phone: (202)686-3700 

Fax: (202)686-3656 

Web Site: http://www.nasbp.org 

E-mail: info@nasbp.org 

Ranking Member Claire McCaskill 

I !om eland Security and Government Affairs 

Committee 

!lome land Security and Government Affairs 

Committee 

340 Senate Dirksen Building 

Washington. DC 20510 

340 Senate Dirksen Building 

Washington. DC 20510 

RE: Support for the confirmation of Ms. Emily W. Murphv as Administrator of the General Services 

Administration: Nomination Number PN 923-115 

Dear Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member McCaskill: 

On behalf of the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP). a national trade association 

whose membership includes firms employing licensed surety bond producers who place bid, performance, 

and payment bonds on public and private contracts throughout the United States and its territories. I am 

honored to contact you to offer our unqualified suppot1 of Ms. Emily Murphy for the position of 

Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA). 

NASBP and its staff have had the opp011unity of working with Ms. Murphy in her capacity as Counsel to 

the U.S. House Small Business Committee and to the U.S. Armed Services Committee on a variety of 

issues to enhance opportunities for small construction businesses and to make the federal procurement 

environment more ctTicient Such issues have included the impacts of contracting bundling, enhancements 

to the bond guarantee program administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and reforms to 

the asset rules governing surety bonds issued by individual sureties. During her tenure in her roles as 

Counsel, while working in a bipartisan fashion. Ms. Murphy's efforts led not only to significant reforms 

of the federal procurement environment to reduce inefficiencies and to eliminate avenues for fraud but 

also to expanded opportunities for small construction businesses seeking federal contract awards. At all 

times, Ms. Murphy \Vas able to balance competing interests to achieve legislative aims, all the while 

demonstrating her insightfulness of government operations and a commanding kno\vledge of federal 

procurement policies and laws. 

It is for these reasons that I believe Ms. Emily Murphy's previous experience coupled with her knowledge 

of the federal procurement arena will make her an excellent Administrator of GSA. and I otTer my 

enthusiastic support of her appointment. 

Sincerely. 

Mark H. McCallum, Chief Executive OtT!ccr 

cc: Members of the Committee on Homeland Security & Government Relations 
245 

October 

The Honorable Ron Johnson 

Hart Serwtc Office 

Washington, D.C 20510 

Subject Endor~ement of Ernily :t'vh.trphy 

Dear Senators John9on 

The Coalition 

governn1<.:nt' s procure1nent 

leade-rship, rooted in experience, is 

governmenf s 

Next Administrator of CSA 

At outset1 the Coalition of finns seUing comn1t:rcial 

services and products the r:ecicn1l n1crnbcrs include smalL 

1ncdilnT1., und large business conccrn.S1 they for 

percentage of the sales generated through GSA including the I'v!ultiple Avvard 

Schedule ("MAS") rc.sponsible for many the 

con11nercial itcnt solutions purchased annually Gcwermncnt Our 

h;_n.tP Govcrnrncnt officials rnorc 

tc.n-va.rds 

execution. 

C.-:tpitol 1 JilL rtnd \'Xperlcnce in thz' private 

acquisition, 

well-honed lead<>rship, Ms. 

pro(·urcnJent policy and 

Branch her 
246 

Æ 

positive force in leading the General Services Administration (GSA) dming this lime of 

refonn and transformation, 

Prior to her nomination, Ms. Murphy served as the first Chief Acquisition Officer 

("CAO") at GSA, where she oversaw the consolidation of the Federal Supply and the 

Federal Technolofw Services. In addition, as the Senior Advisor at the Small Business 

Administration ("SBA"), Ms. Murphy managed efforts that radically reduced cycle 

tin1cs and resulted in the agency's first achievement of its 23% small business prin1e 

contracting goaL She also has served both the House Small Business Committee and the 

llouse Armed Services Committee, supporting a positive legislative agenda to improve 

the pmcurement system. These provisions have assisted in bringing efficiency to the 

acquisition process. In addition to her government service, Ms. Tvfurphy has held 

executive positions in the private sector, including practice as a government contracts 

attorney. 

The Coalition believes that Ms. Murphy is the right leader for these times. We 

welcome the opportunity to work with her, as she will provide GSA with the wisdom 

that only can be derived from years of successful leadership in the procurement 

community. The Coalition encourages the Senate to act quickly and support the 

nomination of Emily Murphy as GSA Administrator. 

President