Democratic Lawmakers Say CISA Staff Fear ‘Retribution’ from Trump Administration 

Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers from the nation’s cybersecurity agency about the status of critical election-related work, according to a letter obtained by Democracy Docket.

A letter sent Monday by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.) raises concerns that staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) are wary of working with election offices because they fear “retribution” from the Trump administration.

“[W]e have heard complaints that CISA staff may be afraid to work with state and local election officials and vendors for fear of retribution,” Padilla and Morelle write. “If accurate, this is a very serious issue.”

It’s not hard to see why staff might be worried about hostility from the administration. CISA became a target for Trump and the MAGA world after it publicly refuted 2020 election conspiracy theories and disinformation. In April, Trump signed a memorandum ordering a probe into CISA’s first director, Christopher Krebs, and any of his associates for their 2020 election work.

After the Trump administration gutted CISA’s budget, it reportedly ended its election security work, leaving state and local election officials with significantly less resources to administer secure elections. 

Among CISA’s main election operations was the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing & Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), an information exchange space that allowed state and local election offices to share information and best practices to help protect from cybersecurity threats.

“The reason we had almost no disruptions [in the last election] was because CISA helped us figure out how to deal with these sorts of things,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) previously told Democracy Docket about working with CISA’s EI-ISAC. “And they helped us train our people so that we could very seamlessly address each of the issues as they arose, which we did.”

It’s the tip of the iceberg of the drastic cuts to CISA’s workforce. The letter claims that CISA “plans to cut some 1,300 staff — about half its full-time workforce — and another 40 percent of its contractors.” 

And it’s not the first letter that Padilla and Morelle sent to CISA’s leadership — the lawmakers sent letters to agency leadership — including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, where CISA is housed — on Feb. 13, March 4 and April 17 demanding answers to a myriad of questions about the status of its election security operations. 

The lawmakers said that the agency’s response to their previous letters “offered little insight” into the current status of CISA’s election security work.

“The security of our nation’s election infrastructure is a vital component of our free, fair, and secure elections,” the latest letter concludes. “We appreciate your attention to this serious matter and expect your answers no later than Monday, July 21.”