President Donald Trump on Tuesday re-nominated Sean Plankey, a former National Security Council and Energy Department cyber official, to be the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, setting up another showdown with the lawmakers who blocked Plankey’s nomination last year.
Plankey, who is currently serving as a senior adviser to the secretary of homeland security working on Coast Guard issues, would be CISA’s first director since the end of the Biden administration, and the stakes of his nomination have only grown over the past year, as the leaderless agency has weathered multiple crises.
Trump originally tapped Plankey in March 2025, but the nomination stalled — and eventually expired at the end of year — after both Democratic and Republican senators placed holds on it. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he would block Plankey’s confirmation until CISA released a report on telecommunications security vulnerabilities, while Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., placed a hold over Coast Guard shipbuilding issues. Other senators’ holds on all Department of Homeland Security nominees also snared Plankey’s nomination.
In the year that CISA has spent without a Senate-confirmed director, the agency’s reputation and capabilities have significantly eroded. Key staffers have left, an entire division has been gutted and vital operations have faltered. Program changes, workforce cuts and travel restrictions have disrupted CISA’s partnerships and alienated onetime allies.
Cyber experts and business leaders say the turmoil at CISA makes it all the more important for the Senate to confirm Plankey, who is generally well regarded in the security community.
“Sean was a great pick,” said Jeff Greene, who served as a top CISA official during the Biden administration. “Having political leadership is important when so much of the activity of agencies right now is being managed at the political level.”
CISA “needs stable leadership and predictable funding to attract, recruit, and retain top talent,” said John Miller, an executive at the Information Technology Industry Council, a leading tech trade group.