Senators push CISA director nominee on election security, agency focus

Sean Plankey, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, faced sharp questions during a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday about the looming expiration of an information-sharing law and CISA’s work on election security.

Plankey — currently a senior adviser to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem — explained his vision for leading an agency that has experienced major workforce cuts and faces significant budget reductions in Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 spending proposal.

The sharpest exchange of the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing — which also featured three other Trump nominees — came when Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked Plankey about Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” by Democrats who stole the election from him.

“I have not reviewed any of the cybersecurity of the 2020 election,” Plankey said. When Blumenthal pressed him, Plankey added, “My opinion on the election as an American private citizen is probably not really relevant.”

That response angered Blumenthal, who told him, “You’re undermining the confidence of the nation in the election apparatus at a time when that credibility is as important as ever, when you’re about to lead an agency that has responsibility for that security.”

“You are the head of the federal agency that oversees the security of our election system for the entire nation, and you’re telling me, in effect … you’re going to evade that responsibility,” Blumenthal added. “I think that answer is completely unsatisfactory.”

Plankey pushed back, saying he would maintain CISA’s focus on helping state and local election officials secure their technology.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., asked Plankey how he would ensure that CISA fulfilled all of its responsibilities after losing so many employees. “You’re walking into an agency that’s critically important and is being cut off at the knees because some of alleged things that may have happened in the past but are not occurring now,” he said.

Plankey said his goal would be “to allow the operators to operate.”

“CISA has a number of the most capable cybersecurity people in the world,” he said. “I’m going to empower those operators to operate and do the best they can. And if that means we have to reorganize in some form or fashion, that’s what we’ll do. I’ll lead that charge. And if that means that we need a different level of funding than we currently have now, then I will approach the Secretary, ask for that funding, ask for that support.”

Trump nominated Plankey to lead CISA in March. Plankey served as the No. 2 official in the Energy Department’s newly created Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response during Trump’s first term. He also worked as a director for cyber policy at the National Security Council, where he focused on maritime cybersecurity issues.

Cyber info-sharing act funding

During the hearing, Plankey addressed the impending expiration of the 2015 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, explaining to senators that it was a critical tool for encouraging businesses to share threat indicators with one another and with government agencies. He also told Sen. Maggie Hassan that he backed continued funding for another expiring initiative, the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. 

“I absolutely support the state and local grant program for cybersecurity,” Plankey said. “There’s many rural areas of America, and CISA exists to support all Americans across the United States, and one of the best ways to do that is through the state and local grant program.”

Republicans focused their questions on the agency’s work with technology companies to fight online disinformation during the 2020 election cycle, which many conservatives have labeled censorship and surveillance. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, asked Plankey how he planned to “restore” CISA’s reputation after the controversy.