Norton Gives OPM Director Deadline to Respond on Duration of Credit Monitoring, Helpline Wait Times for Federal Employees Following OPM Security Breach

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a senior member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee (OGR), questioned Office of Personal Management (OPM) Director Katherine Archuleta at an OGR committee hearing today on whether she would be willing to extend the length of the free, 18-month credit monitoring being offered to current and former federal employees whose personnel data was compromised in a major cyber-attack on OPM databases. To lay a predicate for her question on extending the free credit monitoring service, Norton told the committee that she had received calls from her constituents who are federal employees expressing concern that 18 months of monitoring is insufficient given how much information is still unknown about the scope of the cyberattack. Norton asked Archuleta whether she would be willing to extend the 18-month period, but Archuleta did not give a concrete answer. Norton requested a formal response within two weeks.

Norton also expressed concern about long wait times to speak with OPM and its contractors through the helplines set up to answer affected employees' and retirees' questions about the breach and their compromised personal information. Archuleta responded saying that although the phone lines can be busy, callers can leave their number and receive a call back rather than wait on the line. Upon further questioning by Norton, Archuleta said she had received a report that morning of an employee leaving his number and getting a call back within an hour. Norton then insisted that OPM take steps to ensure minimal wait times for employees and retirees seeking assistance, and asked Archuleta to inform the committee by the end of the week the average wait time.

"It adds insult to injury for federal employees to have to wait in some cases for several hours to get information on the security of their personal data," Norton said. "Surely, OPM does not want to add another misstep to the existing chaos surrounding the OPM security breach by leaving federal workers and retirees in the dark about the identity protections in place and what protections employees and retirees can pursue on their own."