“The House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization’s first hearing of the session got off to an awkward start Tuesday after the Veterans Affairs Department declined to make Chief Information Officer James Gfrerer or any other official available to testify.”
“The new subcommittee, created specifically to oversee VA’s multibillion IT upgrades, had planned to assess the department’s Office of Information Technology, which oversees an IT budget of more than $4 billion and is responsible for securing the department’s networks…”
“Lee said Gfrerer refused to testify before the subcommittee because he planned to testify before the full House Veterans Affairs Committee later in the day. However, Lee said VA could have provided a deputy or other OIT representation. In any case, the empty chair earned ire from lawmakers on both sides…” Read the full article here.
Source: After CIO No-Show, Congress Not Confident in VA’s IT Shop – By Frank Konkel, April 2, 2019. Nextgov.
