Obama nominates new OPM IG

Elizabeth Field has been tapped by President Barack Obama to serve as the inspector general at the Office of Personnel Management. The nomination was announced Sept. 16.

The agency has been without a Senate-confirmed IG since longtime watchdog Patrick McFarland stepped down in February.

If confirmed by the Senate, Field will lead an office that has frequently had a frosty relationship with OPM. Days before departing, McFarland issued a memo challenging the legal standing of acting OPM Director Beth Cobert on the grounds that her appointment violated federal law.

For years, McFarland battled OPM for access to audit the agency's $1 billion revolving fund used for background investigations on incoming federal employees and others. In the wake of the hack of OPM databases last year, McFarland was highly critical of the culture inside the CIO operations at OPM.

Field is currently a senior adviser in the Office of the Undersecretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights at the State Department. She began her career in federal auditing in 2002 as a senior analyst on the International Affairs and Trade team at the Government Accountability Office.

She also served in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Office of Inspector General in 2010 and held multiple positions with the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction from 2010 to 2014, including senior audit manager, chief of staff and assistant IG.

She has worked at the State Department since 2014.