FedRAMP Director Pete Waterman has been placed on administrative leave after making comments on social media that criticized veterans’ preference in federal hiring, a General Services Administration (GSA) spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk.
Waterman, who has served as the FedRAMP director since August 2024, made those comments in a July 9 LinkedIn post.
FedRAMP is a program overseen by GSA. It aims to provide a standardized, government-wide approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services used by federal agencies.
“Veterans preference is brutally unfair when taken to the extreme of blocking any consideration of non-veterans, but we’re seeing that everywhere these days,” Waterman wrote. “Even Tech Force wouldn’t let us look at normal folks until we made offers to all the veterans first.”
Waterman also apologized to applicants for the newly launched FedRAMP Cybersecurity Service, writing, “We were told we’d have access to the highest qualified candidates based on the specialized experience and job analysis worksheets we created but our HR decided instead to only review veteran applicants.”
“The future for FedRAMP is pretty dark if we can’t hire experts from private sector who have actually worked on cloud services,” he added.
Veterans’ preference recognizes the economic loss suffered by citizens who have served their country, according to the Office of Personnel Management’s website. Under federal law, veterans are entitled to preference over others in hiring for certain agency positions.
In a statement to MeriTalk, GSA Administrator Edward Forst said veterans “are a critical backbone of our agency.” He noted that veterans represent approximately 30% of GSA’s workforce.
“We categorically and completely disagree with a senior employee’s recent remarks denigrating veterans preferences in hiring,” Forst said. “He has been placed on administrative leave, effective immediately, until further notice.”
“GSA has zero tolerance for comments that disparage or disrespect America’s veterans,” Forst added. “The men and women who have worn and continue to wear our nation’s uniforms deserve our respect and unwavering support.”
MeriTalk previously reported on Waterman’s LinkedIn post, as well as public comments he made last month at GovForward’s Carahsoft FedRAMP Summit in Washington, D.C.
Speaking at the event, Waterman said the newly launched FedRAMP Cybersecurity Service had encountered “some glitches in the hiring process.”
Despite those challenges, Waterman said the service had accepted its first rotational employee from another federal agency and urged experienced cloud security professionals to consider public service.
“I can’t offer you more money. I can’t offer you a better job. I can’t offer you better benefits. But I can offer you working at FedRAMP, which is pretty damn cool, assuming that I can figure out how to get that hiring process to kick in properly,” he said.
In an exclusive interview with MeriTalk earlier this year, Waterman said the FedRAMP Cybersecurity Service planned to hire 15 employees for two-year terms of service. He said the goal is to create a rotating workforce model that combines career federal staff, agency detailees, and private-sector experts to help keep technical expertise current.
Waterman’s disciplinary action was first reported by GovExec.