Update: An administration official has confirmed to Nextgov that Kundra is back from leave. The New York Times is also reporting the news, with an official telling them that Kundra's reinstatement "should speak for itself."
Micah L. Sifry at techPresident is reporting that recently appointed federal CIO Vivek Kundra was seen at his desk today -- apparently back on the job after taking a leave of absence last week after former work colleagues were arrested for a contract kickback scheme. Nextgov is still waiting for the White House to confirm this information.
Kundra's name has been all over the news since the FBI raided his former office as the District of Columbia's Chief Technology Officer. Kundra has not been implicated in the scandal, but that hasn't stopped the some from publicly calling for his head.
My colleague Alyssa Rosenberg at FedBlog noted this morning another piece of information that recently came to light may also be embarrassing for both Vivek and the Obama administration. Since it's in the public domain, we have to assume the White House already knew about this and didn't consider it a major issue.
As for the FBI probe, while Kundra does not appear to be involved there are valid questions to be asked about how the bribery scheme could have taken place right under his nose, especially given the relatively small size of D.C.'s Office of the Chief Technology Officer: 300 employees and a $70 million budget is peanuts compared to the federal government's massive infrastructure and $70 billion plus IT budget Kundra will oversee as federal CIO.
If the report is true and he is back on the job, that means Kundra is considered important enough that the White House is willing to weather the inevitable questions and politicking that is sure to follow. It remains to be seen if the events of the last week will hamper his much-touted plans to bring transparency to the federal government, especially the IT procurement process.
COMMENTS
Another typical appointee with a cloudy past and a shoddy future. I want my vote back. This is NOT the change I voted for!
ML 03/18/09 07:45 am ET
Let us hope Mr. Kundra takes this opportunity and proves himself worthy of this appointment.
I will be following his initiatives closely, as I am sure all readers of this blog will be.
Hope he doesn't dissapoint.
citizen 03/17/09 05:12 pm ET