Janet Napolitano, secretary of the Homeland Security department, has picked Mary Ellen Callahan as the department's Chief Privacy Officer.
"Homeland security and privacy are not mutually exclusive, and having a seasoned professional like Mary Ellen on the team further ensures that privacy is built in to everything we do," Napolitano said in announcing her choice.
Callahan, currently a partner at the law firm of Hogan & Hartson, has specialized in privacy, security, data protection, consumer protection and e-commerce law for more than a decade, accoridng to DHS.
Posted by Michael Hardy on Feb 20, 2009 at 12:12 PM0 comments
How did not one … not two … but three high-level administration appointees with tax troubles slip through the Obama vetting net?
Supporters of the new president must surely be wondering that, and whether any more such bombshells lurk. Today, Tom Dsachle, Obama’s choice to serve as architect of a health care reform package and as secretary of the Health and Human Services department, withdrew from consideration. Daschle last week had admitted his failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes over the past several years.
Nancy Killefer, Obama’s choice to serve as chief performance officer, also withdrew her name from consideration, saying questions over her payment of D.C. unemployment tax on household help could be a problem. (According to reports, she resolved the issue within a matter of months in 2005.)
Only Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, already confirmed by the Senate, has chosen to stay on (for now) despite having similar tax problems.
While Obama can certainly recover from today, it’s not an auspicious sign for an administration just getting off the ground.
Posted by Michael Hardy on Feb 03, 2009 at 12:12 PM0 comments
President Barack Obama has reportedly chosen Google executive Katie Jacobs Stanton to beocme the administration's director of citizen participation.
Computerworld, drawing on other reports, said Stanton is a business development executive for the search giant, and will start at her new post in March. Just what the director of citizen participation's job is remains unclear. A Wall Street Journal blog suggests that at least part of the job will be to develop effective, innovative ways to use Web 2.0 tools in increase citizen participation in the government.
Posted by Michael Hardy on Jan 30, 2009 at 12:12 PM0 comments
President-elect Obama has nominated retired
Navy Adm. Dennis Blair has been nominated to be the next director of
national intelligence. The choice affirms Obama's stated preference for
a strong military manager in the DNI post.
According to media reports,
Blair is expected to have a say in Obama’s selection of the next
director of the CIA. Obama may expand the DNI's duties to encompass a
domestic intelligence agency and a White House office to handle
cybersecurity, according to reports.
Posted by Michael Hardy on Dec 22, 2008 at 12:12 PM0 comments