WASHINGTON — Katherine Archuleta, the director of the Office of Personnel Management, will resign effective Friday, according to a White House official, one day after it was revealed that sweeping cyberintrusions at the agency resulted in the theft of the personal information of more than 25 million people.
Ms. Archuleta went to the White House on Friday morning to personally inform Mr. Obama of her decision, saying that she felt new leadership was needed at the federal personnel agency to enable it to “move beyond the current challenges,” the official said. The president accepted her resignation.
Beth Cobert, the deputy director of management at the Office of Management and Budget, will step in to temporarily replace Ms. Archuleta while a permanent replacement is found.
Ms. Archuleta, who assumed her post in November 2013, had been under pressure to resign since last month, when she announced the first of two separate but related computer intrusions that compromised the personal information of 4.2 million current and former federal workers, including Social Security numbers, addresses, health and financial histories and other private details.
On Thursday, she divulged the breach had also led to the theft of personal data of 21.5 million people who had applied for government background checks, likely affecting anyone subjected to such an investigation since 2000.
On a conference call detailing the scope of the intrusion late Thursday afternoon, Ms. Archuleta, the first Latina director of the agency, insisted she would not step down despite calls from members of Congress in both parties that she do so.
She served in the Clinton administration, and later under Mr. Obama as the chief of staff of the Labor Department. When she started at the personnel agency in 2013, she unveiled a plan of action that included technology upgrades to its antiquated computer systems and bolstering protections against cyber intrusions.
“We have a very aggressive push to enhance our cyber security and modernize our systems, and we will continue to do so,” she said Thursday. “I am committed to the work that I am doing at O.P.M.”
