Trump keeps cutting election security jobs. Here’s what’s at risk

As the Trump administration continues to dismantle federal agencies, one that plays a critical role in U.S. infrastructure and election security faces an uncertain future. 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), housed in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and tasked with enforcing cybersecurity and protecting American infrastructure across all levels of government, placed multiple members of its election security team on administrative leave over the last few weeks, according to reports by the Associated Press and TechCrunch. 

The 17 reported election security team members, part of the agency’s foreign influence and disinformation teams, were placed on administrative leave as part of an overall review of the team, with a particular focus on those two operations. A DHS spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied that number. On Friday, the Trump administration separately fired more than 130 members of CISA, the DHS confirmed. 

“We are making sweeping cuts and reform across the federal government to eliminate egregious waste and incompetence that has been happening for decades at the expense of the American taxpayer,” a DHS spokesperson wrote in an email to Fast Company. 

The DHS declined to answer any specific questions but noted that it is currently “actively identifying” other positions it deems wasteful. (The White House did not respond to Fast Company’s request for comment.)

Although it may be too early to understand the full impact of these personnel shifts, some experts warn that the moves could have serious consequences for future elections.

“Some of the staff who were put on administrative leave were the regional election security advisers,” says Derek Tisler, a lawyer with the Brennan Center for Justice, a left-wing think tank. “This was a group of election security experts, and they played a vital role in providing on-the-ground support, connecting local election officials to all of the various services and expertise that CISA has to offer.”

CISA, an agency created by President Donald Trump in 2018, was a “critical” resource to local election offices in the past three elections, Tisler tells Fast Company. The agency would help state and local officials protect their election systems against physical and cyber attacks. 

However, CISA found itself in Trump’s crosshairs after the agency released a statement saying the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history” (Trump falsely claimed that the election was rigged). Trump responded by firing the then-director of CISA—one of his own appointees—through a Tweet. 

Trump is not the only Republican to target CISA. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has been leading a crusade against the agency for the past two years. The Ohio congressman subpoenaed the agency for election-related documents, and the Judiciary Committee labeled it the “nerve center” of government censorship.

Tisler says CISA’s election security team has been vital because elections are so decentralized: There are more than 8,000 local election jurisdictions across the country that often have very small offices. CISA has valuable election security experts and resources that these offices can call upon.

CISA, tasked with overseeing all critical infrastructure, does much more than police election security. Several of its flagship projects have encouraged awareness surrounding best practices for cybersecurity. The agency runs a database of exploited network vulnerabilities for businesses to refer to and has also encouraged tech companies to promote secure development practices in its “Secure by Design” campaign. 

Tisler fears that, should CISA dwindle in size, election security will become increasingly vulnerable to both foreign and domestic threats. Since the 2016 election, interference from foreign adversaries—like China, Iran, and Russia—has threatened American election security. 

Among the 130 CISA members fired by Trump, several were “working to counter Chinese hacking threats,” according to CNN’s Zachary Cohen.

Cybersecurity experts on both sides of the aisle have spoken very positively of CISA and the assistance it offers, according to Hugh Thompson, executive chairman of the cybersecurity conference RSAC. The cybersecurity community has become accustomed to partnering with CISA. 

“If you believe that you’re currently under attack, CISA would be one of the places that you would go to and either report the incident or get some feedback from them,” Thompson says. 

The administration’s approach to cybersecurity has made headlines outside of the job cuts at CISA. Last week, Trump tapped as his new national cyber director the RNC executive Sean Cairncross, who doesn’t have any background in cybersecurity. And over the weekend, CISA temporarily froze all of its election security work. 

But experts agree that it’s still too early to tell whether these changes are cause for panic or just a sign of mass government overhaul. 

“This is a constantly emerging space,” says Tisler. “We’re going to lose a lot of the support that we’ve built up to fend off attacks. What exact impact will that have? It’s hard to say, but it’s certainly concerning that there is going to be less support and less response available against cyber attacks.”

<hr class=“wp-block-separator is-style-wide”/> https://www.fastcompany.com/91281376/trump-keeps-cutting-election-security-jobs-heres-whats-at-risk?partner=rss&amp;utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&amp;utm_content=rss