Federal retirement claims are piling up again as the Office of Personnel Management inventory reached about 10,600 claims in October, Federal News Network reported.
That total sits roughly 2,000 above the count from the previous month.
Processing times for those filings are slowing down as new applications continue to flood the agency. It takes OPM an average of 73 days to finalize a claim, though digitally submitted applications move faster at an average of 59 days.
The White House nominated Michael LoSapio to serve as director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Monday. LoSapio currently works as the chief information security officer at Palantir, where he started as a system engineer in 2013, according to Federal News Network.
His nomination arrives after Sean Plankey, the previous nominee to lead CISA, withdrew his name following a year-long stall in the Senate. Nick Andersen has led CISA as acting director since February.
Senator Maggie Hassan launched an inquiry this week into former Department of Homeland Security official Corey Lewandowski over his role in agency contracting decisions. Hassan, incoming chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent a letter seeking records from his time at the department, Federal News Network reported.
“I plan to use the committee’s full authorities, including compulsory processes, to expose corruption and waste,” Hassan told Federal News Network. Lewandowski has faced allegations that he demanded personal compensation from companies in exchange for favorable contracting decisions.
Senator James Lankford entered the race to become the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Senator Rand Paul, who chaired the committee for the last two years, announced he is moving over to be ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Federal News Network reported.
Lankford currently chairs the subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management and the Subcommittee on Border Management, Federal Workforce and Regulatory Affairs. He has served on the committee since 2015.
Patrick Newbold is stepping down as chief information officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on November 27 after more than two years in the role, Federal News Network reported.
Mark Plaugher will serve as acting CIO while the agency searches for a permanent replacement.
Newbold signed 16 OneGov cloud agreements supporting 11 mission areas during his tenure. He has worked in federal service since 2019 across NASA, the Social Security Administration, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
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