Two memos document a new organizational structure that establishes the CIO as the point person for all IT activity across the agency’s various subcomponents.
The departures happen even as the tax agency has made controversial decisions to share taxpayer data with the Department of Homeland Security and centralize that data to make it more accessible.
Several officials in the department’s CIO shop who were not fired are taking the latest deferred resignation offer, meaning that the office is nearly cleared out, with only two of nine leadership roles permanently filled.
“We saw it’s possible, without adequate oversight, for our spy agencies to do inappropriate things,” a former senior intelligence official said, referencing the 1970s congressional investigations that revealed many spying abuses against Americans.
Gen. Timothy Haugh’s removal was spurred by far-right activist Laura Loomer, who, earlier Thursday, reportedly urged the president to terminate multiple National Security Council staffers.
The new Department of Government Efficiency — which, despite the “department” referenced in its name, is an advisory effort, not a government department — has aims to trim the federal workforce and hunt efficiencies in tech and fraud reduction efforts.
Outgoing National Cyber Director Harry Coker thinks his office needs more influence over the federal cyber budget but not necessarily more authority on offensive cyber operations.