ATLANTA — Employees at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) focused on safeguarding elections have recently been placed on administrative leave, raising concerns about the support needed by state and local election offices across the country.
Seventeen CISA staff members who have assisted election officials with assessments and training in addressing various threats—including cyber attacks, ransomware, and the physical safety of election workers—are temporarily sidelined as an inquiry takes place. This information comes from a source familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.
Among those on leave are ten regional election security specialists, hired to enhance field staffing and expertise in election security in anticipation of the 2024 elections. The review reportedly aims to evaluate the agency’s efforts to thwart foreign attempts to influence U.S. elections, responsibilities now being handled by different agency personnel.
The specialists, many with backgrounds as former state or local election officials, were tasked with fostering relationships across all 50 states and over 8,000 local election jurisdictions. They spent the previous year meeting with election officials, attending conferences, and ensuring state and local offices were aware of CISA’s cybersecurity and physical security capabilities.
No response has been received from CISA or the Department of Homeland Security regarding the situation as of Monday.
Election officials from both sides of the political spectrum have praised CISA’s contributions to bolstering the security of election offices against both cyber and physical threats.
Kentucky’s Secretary of State, Michael Adams, a Republican, highlighted the agency’s crucial role in assisting county clerks. He remarked on the importance of the direct relationships that CISA staff built with clerks, assisting them with physical security assessments and cybersecurity practices. “They’re teaching them and helping them check their physical security and their cyber hygiene, and that’s been extremely popular,” Adams noted in a recent interview.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, underscored the agency’s significance as a key partner for election officials in her state. “And I hope that leaders in the federal government who claim to care about election integrity will recognize that,” she stated in a late January interview.
Others placed on leave include current or former members of CISA’s Election Security and Resilience team, tasked with investigating the agency’s approaches to combating misinformation and disinformation campaigns. The election security specialists operated under a division dedicated to field operations, distinct from the team under review.
These staff changes arrive amid ongoing scrutiny about CISA’s role, particularly following criticisms from Republican leaders and former members of the Trump administration. Kristi Noem, Trump’s newly appointed homeland security secretary, expressed during her Senate confirmation hearing last month that CISA had deviated from its intended mission. She committed to collaborating with senators to address the organization’s focus.
With Trump yet to appoint a successor for former CISA Director Jen Easterly, agency leadership has been noticeably absent from recent gatherings of state election officials in Washington, D.C. CISA was established in 2018 during Trump’s initial term and is responsible for safeguarding the nation’s critical infrastructure, which includes a wide variety of sectors, including banking and voting systems. Though part of the Department of Homeland Security, CISA operates as its own agency with a Senate-confirmed director.
Trump and his supporters continue to express dissatisfaction with CISA’s initiatives geared toward countering misinformation regarding the 2020 presidential election and the pandemic. CISA officials have emphasized that the agency never engaged in censorship practices. They previously collaborated with states to inform social media platforms of spreading misinformation, clarifying that they did not compel these platforms to take specific actions.
In preparation for the 2024 election cycle, CISA and other federal agencies have been proactive in alerting the public to various foreign misinformation initiatives. This includes exposing three fraudulent videos linked to Russia, which alleged to show electoral misconduct in contestable states.
A spokesperson from the National Association of State Election Directors stated that the organization is unable to offer any commentary on CISA’s personnel choices but looks forward to learning about the agency’s future plans regarding election-related operations.
Maria Benson from the National Association of Secretaries of State indicated that the group has sought an update on staffing from CISA and noted that the agency communicated that all cybersecurity and physical security services would remain accessible to state and local election officials.
