This week, reports indicate the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is in dire shape following a year of budget cuts, layoffs, and furloughs under the Trump administration. The agency has now replaced its top acting leader.
The move to replace Madhu Gottumukkala as the acting director of CISA comes after a tumultuous year leading the agency. CISA is the Department of Homeland Security agency responsible for cybersecurity and technical protection across the federal government.
According to reports, Gottumukkala struggled during his tenure and caused security headaches, including the uploading of sensitive government documents to ChatGPT. Staffing at the agency was slashed by one-third. Gottumukkala also reportedly failed a counterintelligence polygraph, which was required to view classified documents, and subsequently suspended several career officials, including the agency’s then-chief security officer.
Before his nomination to CISA as deputy director, Gottumukkala served as chief technology officer of South Dakota under then-governor and current Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
In a statement, a CISA spokesperson claimed Gottumukkala had done a remarkable job. The spokesperson stated that Nick Andersen will replace Gottumukkala as CISA’s new acting director. Gottumukkala has been moved to a new position as director of strategic implementation within the Department of Homeland Security.
Prior to this appointment, Andersen previously served as the agency’s top official overseeing its cybersecurity division.
The agency still has not had a permanent Senate-confirmed director since Trump returned to office. The spokesperson said the Trump administration has chosen Sean Plankey to be the agency’s permanent director, a role which requires Senate approval.
The White House re-nominated Plankey in January. Senator Ron Wyden had previously blocked Plankey’s nomination until the agency agreed to release an unclassified report allegedly describing cybersecurity flaws at major phone and telecommunication companies. Wyden demanded the report’s release following hundreds of hacks targeting U.S. and international providers by the China-backed hacking group known as Salt Typhoon. The Senate has yet to schedule a nomination hearing for Plankey.
In further leadership turnover, it was reported that CISA lost another top senior official, Bob Costello, the agency’s chief information officer. The report stated Gottumukkala tried to transfer Costello but was blocked by unnamed political appointees.
CISA’s spokesperson did not address Costello’s departure when asked, but did not dispute the report.