Defense CIO Hearing Delayed

The Senate Armed Services Committee was supposed to hold a hearing on Tuesday on the nomination of Teresa "Teri" Takai, the chief information officer from California, as the assistant secretary of Defense for networks and information integration - a.k.a. the Defense CIO. But the committee inexplicably delayed it.

In a cryptic note posted on its website, the panel said the notice for the hearing tomorrow "is amended to show the removal of Teresa M. Takai to be assistant secretary of Defense for networks and information integration from the panel of nominees," who are slated to testify.

I asked the committee for an explanation, but have not heard back. A Pentagon spokeswoman told me that Takai's nomination has not been pulled.

Whatever the reason, the postponed confirmation hearing definitely means that ASD/NII will continue to remain leaderless at a time its very existence is threatened. The Defense Business Board called for its elimination in a report released last month.

The good news is the committee will hear from Dr. Jonathan Woodson, an Army Reserve one star nominated in April to become the Defense top doc, replacing Dr. S. Ward Casscells, who resigned as assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs in April 2009.