White House Taps Thomas Flagg as Deputy Federal CIO

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) tapped Thomas Flagg, chief information officer (CIO) at the Education Department, to serve as the deputy federal CIO.

A Department of Education spokesperson confirmed the news to MeriTalk. As deputy federal CIO, Flagg will report to Federal CIO Greg Barbaccia.

Flagg takes over the role from Jay Teitelbaum, who was serving as the acting deputy CIO. Drew Myklegard previously served as the deputy CIO, but he departed from the role in September 2025.

Flagg has served as the CIO at the Education Department since October 2024. Previously, he spent more than 11 years at the Department of Labor, most recently as the director of the Directorate of Business Application Services.

The news comes after OMB put up a job posting for the deputy federal CIO role in February.

According to the job posting, the deputy federal CIO is responsible for providing expert advice and assistance to senior OMB leadership on federal IT policy and oversight matters. They also advise on “operations and administrative functions of IT policy development, IT modernization, agency engagement and governance, and data governance.”

OMB did not respond to a request for comment.