Reform to Rules for Putnam

Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.), who led much of Congress' oversight of federal information technology during the past two years, has left the House Government Reform Committee and joined the Rules Committee.

Putnam will take the Rules slot of Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.), who left his office last week to become the director of the CIA.

Since January of last year, Putnam had been the chairman of the Government Reform Committee's Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census Subcommittee.

Robert Dix, staff chief of the House subcommittee that oversees cybersecurity policy, said it is unclear who will replace Putnam or when he will be replaced. "The word I'm hearing right now is after the election," he said.

Putnam, the 29-year-old congressman, emerged as one of the House leaders on federal technology policy in 2003.

His commitment to security and other core IT issues drew praise from his elders on Capitol Hill.

"The loss for the Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census is certainly the Rules Committee's gain. We're very sorry to see him go," said Robert White, spokesman of the Government Reform Committee.

Among other things, Putnam had issued the latest set of computer security grades for federal agencies in December. He gave an overall grade of D to the federal government.

"Adam is a rising star in Congress," House Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) said in March. "He has the intellect and drive to get at the heart of some of the most pressing — though not particularly sexy — issues facing the government. Adam, to his credit, is more interested in doing good than getting credit."