'Why Is The CISO Not Here Today?': Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Calls Out Top VA Official For Absence

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During a House Veterans Affairs committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) asked Acting Assistant Secretary for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs Eddie Pool about the absence of the office's chief information security officer.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Chair Barrett, and thank you, Ranking Member Brudinski, for convening today's hearing.

00:10As a former healthcare executive and former ranking member of this subcommittee, I understand

00:14that information technology is vital in delivering world-class healthcare and fulfilling our

00:19sacred promise to our veterans.

00:21I also know that significant organizational change can be disruptive, but often necessary.

00:28The way Doge and Mr. Vaught have approached these changes at OIT seem intentionally cruel.

00:34I have heard you are trying to right this ship and recognize the valuable contributions of

00:40VA employees while implementing the change.

00:43Mr. Poole, what other steps are you taking to repair employee morale?

00:48Thank you for the question, Congresswoman.

00:52It's a good opportunity to talk about the bigger picture at VA.

00:56Obviously change is very challenging.

00:59In this particular instance, change is very necessary.

01:01It's an opportunity under this administration to really improve the things at VA on a scale

01:09really not seen before.

01:10So as we go about that, we're doing very frequent communications.

01:14We have a lot of activities underway.

01:16We have surveying and taking a pulse of the organization.

01:20Again, just to check in and make sure the workforce is getting the information that they need.

01:26Particularly through the DRP programs, we made certain that we had lots of frequent communications,

01:33lots of options, lots of questions and answers with the workforce,

01:36so that the employees could make the best decision for themselves and the families given the opportunities presented.

01:42And what are you doing to bolster retention efforts?

01:44To bolster retention efforts, we are, again, making our mission focus back on the veteran.

01:52We are focusing exclusively on trying to optimize everything that we do to drive maximum value,

01:58and I think that in itself has been a uniter with the staff and a good focus for the organization to really, again, focus on our core mission.

02:08You know, what can we do to improve services to veterans across the board through technology?

02:13Do you have any mechanisms in place that can actually track feedback to make sure that you're getting the desired effect?

02:18Yes, Congresswoman, we absolutely do.

02:21In fact, I will yield to Ms. Beard, who will talk a little bit more about those mechanisms.

02:27Yes, thank you for the questions.

02:28During a time of change, it's so important to have strong communications with the staff

02:32and make sure that we're providing back the visibility and understanding and the why we are doing what we're doing.

02:37Since January especially, we've been doing a lot of town halls and other communications.

02:44We have over an 80% satisfaction rate with over 78% attendance, so good saturation along with strong satisfaction.

02:53In the development side, we also have released a career development portal for all categories along the NIST cybersecurity codes

03:03for employees that focuses on not only assessing their current skills and upskilling into the areas they want to do.

03:09So our focus around retention is not only to take care of them now, but also take care of what the VA is going to need

03:16and what they need to continue their growth here with OINT.

03:19Thank you. My next question has to do with the Chief Information Security Officer.

03:24There's been significant changes within the organization. How much involvement has the CISO had?

03:31Thank you, Congresswoman. She has been involved, as has her executive team. I believe that organization has

03:39four executives in the department. What we've done is primarily focus on the operational aspects,

03:46and then again with the CISO herself, that's going to be more focused on the policy side of things.

03:53Operationally, we're looking at those immediate concerns, but as we evolve and grow throughout this reshaping effort,

04:01this will be probably with much more involvement on the policy side.

04:04And how much control and execution control does she have?

04:09Congressman, I'm not sure I understand the question.

04:11Well, how much control, operational control over the execution does the CISO have since that person is going to be held accountable?

04:20How much control do they have?

04:22Congressman, I would say quite a bit of control. I mean, this is an environment where we

04:29welcome feedback from all areas of the organization and where that is available to collect and inform our strategy.

04:37We certainly maximize the opportunity to collect that.

04:39And why is the CISO not here today?

04:43Congressman, I can't really speak to that. I know that operationally, most of the components for our reshaping

04:50are being aligned more towards the technical operations side of the organization. Again,

04:54moving security functions next to the operations they support. And most of that is under Mr. Jack Galvin to my left.

05:02And so I thought, given the organizational direction we're going, it would probably be better to have Mr.

05:07Galvin here to speak to some of those issues.

05:09Since I only have a second left, so I just want to say that I just do have some deep concerns

05:13that we'll be holding this person accountable and they're not here to actually talk about

05:17the level of control they have and what they've been, how they've been participating. Thank you. I yield back.

05:22Thank you. I will recognize myself for five.

05:26To be continued...

05:28To be continued...

05:32Here we go...

05:42I will see you.

05:45MDR 4

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