The Energy Department is changing its chief information officer to a political position and naming Michael Johnson from the White House’ Office of Science and Technology Policy to that role.

Sources confirmed that Johnson will start Monday, March 9, after spending the last few years as the assistant director for intelligence programs and national security systems in the National Security and International Affairs Office within OSTP.

NextGov first reported Energy’s decision to hire Johnson as its next CIO.

Johnson replaces Bob Brese, a career official who left government Sept. 5.

Don Adcock has been acting CIO since Brese left to join Gartner Executive Programs. Sources say Adcock is expected to return to his former role as deputy CIO.

Energy’s decision to make its CIO a political appointed position is both in- line with the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act and part of an interesting trend in government.

The Commerce Department recently changed its CIO position to a political appointee, in part to speed up the hiring process, but the Labor Department changed its CIO job to a career official from a political position.

Johnson is not new to Energy. He was a senior scientist at Sandia National Laboratories and was a senior adviser for intelligence information sharing and safeguarding

in DoE’s director of intelligence and to the DoE CIO.

In addition to his role at OSTP, Johnson also was the chief scientist within the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, and was the first

deputy associate director of national intelligence for information sharing and deputy intelligence community information sharing executive in support of the Director of National Intelligence.

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