Danny Harris, the Department of Education CIO, announced his plan to retire by the end of February, weeks after a scathing hearing in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that questioned both his ethics and competence.
Harris told department heads on Feb. 19 of his intention to retire, effective Feb. 29. His departure caps more than 32 years in public service.
The CIO was the focus of a three-hour hearing on Feb. 3 during which legislators tied the department’s cybersecurity failures to Harris’ tenure and questioned his relationship with a vendor and income he accrued through a number of side businesses, which Harris described as “hobbies.”
After the hearing, Harris reportedly passed out just outside the chambers and was taken to the hospital.
While the hearing put Harris in the news, Education Press Secretary Dorie Turner Nolt said the CIO had already planned to retire after completing the administration’s mandatory Cybersecurity Sprint this summer.
“Having made significant progress in recent months toward the department’s cybersecurity goals and because he did not want to risk becoming a distraction to the department’s critical ongoing cybersecurity work, Danny has decided that now is the right time for him to retire,” Nolt said.
Deputy CIO Steve Grewal will serve as acting CIO while the department searches for a replacement, which it hopes to do in the near future.
Grewal will also get additional support from Assistant Secretary for Management Andrew Jackson, according to Nolt.
