Oversight Committee Passes IT Reform Act, Giving CIOs Budget Authority

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee unanimously passed legislation on Wednesday that would mark the most significant reform in more than a decade to the way the government purchases information technology.

The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act would make agency chief information officers presidential appointees. It would also grant them authority to shift funding between technology projects, a power now only granted to the Veterans Affairs Department CIO.

The legislation was jointly sponsored by Oversight Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., ranking member of the committee's government operations panel. It’s now on its way to the full House for consideration. Complementary legislation has not yet been introduced in the Senate.