Spousal Conflict of Interest Dooms DISA Appointment

News reports say the Department of Defense has withdrawn the nomination of Rear Adm. Elizabeth Hight to be the next director of the Defense Information Systems Agency. Her husband's job with  Northrop Grumman was perceived to be a conflict of interest. The Tech Insider columnist concludes:

DISA purchases hundreds of millions of dollars worth of information technology hardware and services every year, the kind of hardware and services that Northrop Grumman sells. This seems like a slam-dunk definition of a conflict of interest, despite what people say are Hight's rock-solid qualifications. It's hard to see Hight and Salisbury not having to explain over and over again the uncomfortable relationship to the IT industry and even the Hill.