FedRAMP Director Pete Waterman reinstated at GSA after weeks of leave
Pete Waterman will be back to work at the General Services Administration this week, the FedRAMP director told FedScoop, returning to his role after being placed on administrative leave due to comments he made about the federal government’s veterans’ hiring preference.
In a personal LinkedIn post last month, Waterman wrote that his office needed experienced tech professionals, but federal hiring was “terribly broken” and “Veterans preference is brutally unfair when taken to the extreme of blocking any consideration of non-veterans.”
GSA placed him on leave on July 31 for his remarks, with Administrator Ed Forst saying in a statement that “GSA has zero tolerance for comments that disparage or disrespect America’s veterans.”
His reinstatement comes just after his second anniversary at FedRAMP, he said in a LinkedIn post Wednesday, recalling a motorcycle accident he had before he accepted the position.
“Over the last two years with FedRAMP there have been many occasions at work that reminded me of that crash – unexpected things that seemed insurmountable for a few moments before we changed the approach and pushed through,” he said.
Officials at both GSA and the Department of Veterans Affairs said the VA was not involved in the decision to place Waterman on leave. GSA did not respond to a request for comment about Waterman’s reinstatement, first reported by NextGov.
A career government employee, Waterman said in his post he is “incredibly excited” to return to work, but declined to comment further to FedScoop.
“The FedRAMP team is strong, resilient, capable, tough, and knows how to deliver through complex and difficult times. I can’t express how proud I am of all of them, how proud we are of each other. We all know how to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and ride out of the desert together,” he said in the post.
