The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has warned state and local election officials about potential threats from foreign governments, showed officials how to protect polling places and gamed out responses for the unexpected. But the agency was largely absent for this month’s elections in several states, and shifting priorities, staffing reductions and budget cuts have sparked concerns about how engaged CISA will be in next year’s midterms.
CISA was formed under the first Trump administration to safeguard the nation's critical infrastructure, from dams and power plants to election systems, but it’s been undergoing a major transformation in Trump’s second term. The Republican administration in March cut $10 million from two cybersecurity initiatives, CISA still lacks an official director, and public records suggest roughly 1,000 CISA employees have lost their jobs in recent years.
In February, the bipartisan National Association of Secretaries of State asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem – whose department oversees the agency – to preserve CISA’s core election functions. Noem replied that “funding, products, services, and positions” were under review and that services would remain available, but association officials say they’ve received no update. Read more.
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