President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is leaving the Department of Homeland Security, where he has most recently been serving as an advisor in the U.S. Coast Guard, multiple people familiar with the matter told Nextgov/FCW and Defense One.
Sean Plankey is still expected to remain the nominee to lead CISA, said three of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of his departure. He is expected to leave the Coast Guard this week, one of the people said. Two other people familiar with the matter also said he’s expected to get an award ceremony in the coming days.
Plankey held Energy Department cybersecurity roles in the first Trump administration and was nominated last year to lead the cyberdefense agency, but various congressional holds and other obstacles in the last year have slowed the confirmation process. He has been serving in his Coast Guard position for about the past year.
A Coast Guard spokesperson declined to comment and referred inquiries to DHS.
“We have no personnel matters to announce at this time,” a DHS spokesperson said. Plankey and CISA did not return a request for comment.
It’s not clear when or whether Plankey will be confirmed for the CISA position. On Tuesday, Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., threatened to slow all Senate proceedings if Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem doesn’t soon address inquiries from his office regarding immigration enforcement operations and disaster response funding in his state.
“If I don’t get an answer that you’ve had a month to respond to, and the remaining ones … as of today, I’ll be informing leadership that I’m putting a hold on any en bloc nominations until I get a response, and in two weeks, if I don’t get a response, I’m going to deny quorum and markup in as many committees as I can until I get a response,” the senator said in an oversight hearing of DHS activities.
Last week, CISA’s then-acting director Madhu Gottumukkala was moved to another role in DHS, while Nick Andersen—the previous executive assistant director for the cyber division—took his place helming the agency in an acting capacity.
DHS’s funding has been lapsed for around two weeks without a clear indication that lawmakers are ready to reconcile on a funding deal. The war in Iran, which broke out Saturday, is expected to test U.S. cyber defenses, which have been impacted in the last year by significant workforce cuts at CISA and other key cyber units across the government.
Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Tuesday evening he was aware of Plankey’s departure from DHS and added that he was an ideal choice to lead CISA.
“[CISA] needs Senate-confirmed leadership immediately,” Montgomery said. “Whether he’s the perfect guy for every administration, I don’t know. He’s the perfect guy for this administration.”
