Katie Arrington named acting Pentagon CIO
Mere weeks after being named the chief information security officer for the Defense Department, Katie Arrington was announced Monday as the Pentagon’s official “Performing the Duties of the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer.”
The DOD Office of the CIO announced the move by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to place Arrington as the acting CIO in a post on LinkedIn. The post also confirmed that Leslie Beavers, who had been acting CIO since John Sherman left the role last June, will return to her primary role as principal deputy CIO.
“In this capacity, Ms. Arrington serves as the primary advisor to the Secretary of Defense for information management/Information Technology (IT); information assurance, as well as non-intelligence space systems; critical satellite communications, navigation, and timing programs; spectrum; and telecommunications,” per the LinkedIn post.
A defense official confirmed Arrington started in the role Monday.
The Pentagon CIO is a presidentially appointed role that requires Senate confirmation. It’s unclear if the Trump administration plans to nominate Arrington to the role, and the defense official did not comment when asked about the possibility.
Arrington returned to the Pentagon as CISO on Feb. 18. During the first Trump administration, she served as chief information security officer for the department’s acquisition and sustainment directorate and was regarded as a key architect of the department’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, which aims to improve the cybersecurity posture of the defense industrial base and contractors by requiring minimum cyber standards to win contracts.
The final rule for the CMMC program went into effect last December.
Arrington is also known for her political career, running for Congress as a representative for South Carolina’s 1st District in 2018 as a Republican, during which she earned President Donald Trump’s endorsement. However, she lost that race to Democratic nominee Joe Cunningham.
Her tenure during the Trump administration was also marked with controversy. In 2021, Arrington was placed on leave in connection with an alleged unauthorized disclosure of classified information from a military intelligence agency and her security clearance was suspended. She eventually settled a lawsuit over the matter against the DOD in 2022 before announcing another bid for Congress that year.
The controversy surrounding her security clearance became a key discussion point in her run for the House, and she lost the Republican primary to Nancy Mace, who was ultimately elected into office.
