Trump Picks Homeland Security CIO from Defense Department

President Trump named John Zangardi to be the Homeland Security Department’s chief information officer Thursday.

Zangardi has been serving as the Defense Department’s acting chief information officer since February, a position vacated when Terry Halvorsen left the department for the private sector.

Zangardi will replace another acting CIO, Stephen Rice, who stepped in to temporarily fill DHS’ top tech vacancy after Trump’s first appointment for the agency—Richard Starapoli—resigned after three months.

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Prior to serving as Defense’s acting CIO, Zangardi served as the CIO for the Department of the Navy and held several other positions at the forefront of military technology acquisition, resourcing and communications.

The appointment fills one vacancy while adding another—the Defense CIO role still needs to be filled. However, naming Zangardi to Homeland Security and the recent addition of Vicki Hildebrand to Transportation Department, as Federal News Radio reported, brings the number of permanent CIOs at CFO agencies to 16 out of 24.

A Defense Department spokeswoman said a replacement for Zangardi has not been named.