A pair of House Democrats on Monday introduced legislation aimed at ensuring victims of the 2015 Office of Personnel Management data breach remain protected for the rest of their lives.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., are the lead sponsors of the Reducing the Effects on OPM Victims Emergency Response Act (H.R. 7236). Last introduced in 2018, the measure would expand credit monitoring and identity protection services for the more than 21 million current and former federal workers and contractors whose Social Security numbers were exposed as part of multiple data breaches nearly a decade ago.
Shortly after the data breaches were uncovered, the Office of Personnel Management had offered three years and up to $1 million worth of protection services, but in 2015, Congress instructed the agency to expand the program to cover 10 years and up to $5 million. The program is currently set to expire in 2026.