Obama taps former political director to lead OPM
The new head will take over as the federal personnel office weathers criticism over a retirement processing backlog and other challenges.
The president has named Katherine Archuleta to replace former OPM Director John Berry, who stepped down in April.
President Obama has tapped Katherine Archuleta to head the Office of Personnel Management, succeeding John Berry who left the agency in April.
Archuleta was national political director for the president’s reelection campaign and chief of staff at the Department of Labor. Her resume also includes stints as a senior policy advisor to the city of Denver and executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
If confirmed, she will be the first Hispanic woman to head OPM.
"Katherine brings to the Office of Personnel Management broad experience and a deep commitment to recruiting and retaining a world-class workforce for the American people. I am grateful Katherine has agreed to serve, and I look forward to working with her in the coming years," Obama said in a statement.
The nomination comes as OPM is facing criticism from some in Congress for a backlog in processing retirement claims, and as the agency deals with managing the details of federal employee furloughs under sequestration. OPM is in the midst of revising its own workforce management strategies, including testing a new data-driven system for evaluating its own human resources efforts called HRStat. Additionally, OPM is at the center of an effort to insure that there is pay equity between men and women working for the federal government.
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