NEWS BRIEF

US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Places 17 Election Security Staffers on Leave

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has placed 17 staffers who worked with local officials to provide training on dealing with election-related cyber threats on leave. The leave is pending an internal review.

Background

Ten of the employees are regional election security specialists, specifically hired to grow field staff and election security knowledge before the 2024 election. All 17 employees were former state or local election officials who were tasked with building relationships across 8,000 different local election jurisdictions across the country.

Other Affected Staffers

The other staffers that have been placed on leave include current and former members of CISA’s Election Security and Resilience team, a leave that is also pending review of the agency’s work to combat misinformation and disinformation campaigns.

Elected Officials Support CISA’s Work

Some elected state officials have been particularly outspoken about the benefits that CISA’s work has provided in securing election offices and mitigating cyber threats. Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams has applauded the "boots on the ground" tactics CISA implemented, and the relationships its employees built with county clerks. "They’re teaching them and helping them check their physical security and their cyber hygiene, and that’s been extremely popular," said Adams.

Uncertainty Surrounds the Future of CISA

For now, the reviews have heightened questions and concerns over the future of the agency, especially considering the lack of a replacement for Jen Easterly, who left as CISA director. The first Trump administration went head-to-head with CISA when the agency aimed to counter misinformation about the 2020 election, which then-president Trump and his allies deemed as "stolen" without evidence. This included the firing of CISA Director Chris Krebs, who called the 2020 presidential election the most secure election in American history.