The vice chairman of the federal Chief Information Officer’s Council will stay at the Homeland Security Department.

DHS CIO Luke McCormack has agreed to pick up the mantle from his predecessor, Richard Spires, to be the second-in-command of the CIO Council.

“Luke has a successful track record in key IT leadership roles in the executive branch and a keen understanding of the mission of the CIO Council. I’m excited to continue to work with him in this new role,” wrote federal CIO Steven VanRoekel in an email to CIOs, obtained by Federal News Radio. “As many of you know, Luke has played a leading role in council activities since he became the CIO at the Department of Justice in March 2012. He has helped steer the Council’s cybersecurity work by co-chairing the Information Security and Identity Management Committee (ISIMC) and also served as the vice-chair of the Digital Services Advisory Group, which shepherded all aspects of the Digital Government Strategy from start to finish. As the vice-chair of the council, Luke will help to guide the council from the CIO’s perspective and help me in continuing to make the council a place where we all come together to move federal IT forward.”

The council made McCormack’s selection official in a blog post on CIO.gov.

Spires served as vice chairman for almost four years before leaving government in May. Spires now is the CEO of Resilient Network Systems.

McCormack rejoined DHS as its CIO in December after leaving for more than 18 months to work at Justice. Previously, McCormack worked at DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement directorate from 2005 to 2012.

He takes over a role for the CIO Council that traditionally has helped bridge the political and career technology managers. His role becomes especially important as the Obama administration and Congress take on IT and acquisition reform in the wake of the HealthCare.gov debacle.

The White House is expected to announce possible reforms in the coming months, including setting up a central program and project management agency, and making it easier to hire technology and acquisition experts.

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