According to bipartisan lawmakers and industry leaders, the U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA is reportedly in disrepair. They fear the agency’s ability to perform its core mission has been diminished, leaving it unprepared for a cybersecurity crisis.
News site Cyberscoop spoke with sources across Congress, the private cyber industry, and beyond. The consensus reflected that CISA has suffered under cuts and layoffs during the Trump administration’s first year. Over that time, CISA has lost around one-third of its staff, costing it programs, personnel, and expertise. This includes the agency’s counter-ransomware initiative and efforts to promote secure software development. Several members of its election security team were reportedly placed on leave last year. CISA is the federal agency responsible for election security. Some warned that Trump’s ongoing promotion of false claims about the 2020 election has led the administration to deprioritize CISA.
CISA also reassigned hundreds of other staffers to aid other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security as part of the Trump administration’s broad immigration crackdown.
Many sources blame the Trump administration, Congress, or both. Others singled out CISA’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, as having struggled to lead the agency and reportedly causing security headaches as a result. CISA has been without a permanent director since Trump entered office in 2025.
The cybersecurity agency is said to be currently operating at around 38% staff levels as a partial U.S. federal government shutdown, which began on February 14, drags on. Lawmakers have declined to continue funding federal immigration authorities amid widespread criticism following the killings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents.
When reached for comment, CISA’s Gottumukkala told TechCrunch that the agency remains unwavering in its commitment to protect federal networks from malicious cyber threat actors despite the multi-week government shutdown of Homeland Security.