Rep. Putnam leaves his role on one official committee to join another

Rep. Adam Putnam has left the House Government Reform subcommittee, where he pushed cybersecurity issues, to join the House Rules Committee.

The Florida Republican has been appointed to the Rules Committee, which helps schedule bills for the House to consider, on September 28 to fill a vacancy. Putnam had served as chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census since January 2003 last year.

During his tenure as subcommittee chairman, Putnam held several hearings on cybersecurity, published two federal infosec report cards, and organized the Corporate Information Security Working Group, which in the spring issued recommendations for improving infosec in both the private and public sectors. He recently sponsored legislation to require federal agencies to include cybersecurity in their IT investment planning.

There was no immediate decision on who will replace Putnam on the subcommittee, but sources said a replacement is unlikely to be named until after the November election. A possible candidate for the post is Rep. Candice Miller (R- Mich.) who is the subcommittee's vice-chairwoman, they said.

The subcommittee's cybersecurity work will continue, said Bob Dix, the subcommittee's staff director: "We're not going to lose any momentum here. We will miss chairman Putnam a lot, but we'll continue to try to move this ball down the field.