Budget

Defense withdraws CIO nomination

The Defense Department has officially withdrawn the nomination of Teresa Takai to be its next assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integr...

Federal News Network Staff

September 30, 2010 5:05 pm

< a min read

By Julia Ziegler
Federal News Radio

The Defense Department has officially withdrawn the nomination of Teresa Takai to be its next assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration and chief information officer.

However that doesn’t mean Takai won’t end up in the position. According to Federal News Radio sources, Takai could be named CIO within a matter of weeks. Since her position will no longer include the title of assistant secretary of Defense she won’t need to go through the confirmation process.

The DoD CIO’s functions will move to the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and be “re-fashioned.” Defense Deputy Secretary William Lynn said earlier this week that the DoD CIO wil be strengthened and report directly to the secretary.

This move comes after Defense Secretary Robert Gates decided to eliminate the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration (NII), which is where the CIO’s office was located. It’s part of Gates’ overall effort to reduce waste in the agency and move $100 billion from back-office functions to warfighter needs.