DHS CFO Sherry heading to the IRS

Management

DHS CFO Sherry heading to the IRS

Peggy Sherry will become the deputy commissioner for operations support at the IRS as of Nov. 4. She is the fourth executive to come to the IRS since the service's...

Jason Miller@jmillerWFED

October 23, 2013 12:30 pm

2 min read

Peggy Sherry is taking her management skills to a new agency.

The Homeland Security Department’s CFO is heading to the IRS, the agency confirms.

Sherry will be the deputy commissioner for operations support, replacing Beth Tucker, who retired at the end of September.

Sherry will join the IRS Nov. 4 after spending more than six years at DHS.

“Peggy brings a strong track record and a diverse set of skills that will help her with this critical IRS leadership position,” said acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel in a release. “Her expertise inside different government agencies on a wide portfolio of projects, coupled with her background in accounting, will work well heading the Operations Support organization.”

In her new role, Sherry will direct IRS’ support functions, including the CFO, human capital office, information technology, privacy and agencywide shared services.

The deputy commissioner is one of the top two positions at the IRS under the service’s commissioner.

She becomes the fourth senior official to join the agency this year. Werfel became the acting commissioner in May after the scandal involving the IRS improperly singling out conservative groups for special scrutiny.

Todd Grams joined in June as the chief of staff and David Fisher joined in May as the chief risk officer.

Sherry joined DHS as the director of financial management in 2007, rose to be deputy CFO in 2008 and CFO by April 2012. Under her leadership, DHS received its first full-scope qualified audit opinion in 2012, and officials are hopeful the agency will receive its first unqualified audit opinion in 2013.

During her tenure, DHS continued to struggle to create a consolidated financial management system out of 13 separate systems. It now is on the path to modernize specific systems to act as shared service providers for the rest of the agency.

DHS said Chip Fulghum, the agency’s budget director, will serve as interim CFO until a new one is named.

DHS’s lack of financial clarity a huge liability

Special Report: Rise of the Money People

Obama appoints Danny Werfel acting IRS head