OPM IG McFarland to step down
Patrick McFarland, the longest-serving Inspector General in government, will resign this month after monitoring OPM for two-and-a-half decades.
Office of Personnel Management Inspector General Patrick McFarland
The Office of Personnel Management's veteran inspector general, Patrick McFarland, is resigning after nearly 26 years on the job.
"It has been my great honor to be the longest-serving presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed inspector general in the federal government," McFarland wrote in his resignation letter to President Barack Obama.
As detailed in 2015 congressional testimony, McFarland worked to call attention to a lack of cooperation between his office and the agency CIO in the wake of the massive cyber breach that hit OPM databases in 2015, when organizational units clamped down on the flow of information.
McFarland also was an advocate for legislation that gave the OPM IG access to the agency's $1 billion revolving fund to perform oversight of contractors charged with performing background checks on government personnel.
In his resignation letter, McFarland praised acting OPM Director Beth Cobert, and said he was happy to have achieved the necessary balance of “independence and cooperation” in his time as OPM IG.
He recommended Deputy Inspector General Nobert Vint as his replacement.
An OPM spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
McFarland's resignation will be effective Feb. 19.
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