- CISA staff are being laid off in the latest round of cuts
- Up to 176 employees face being fired or reassigned
- Some employees are being moved from CISA to ICE – being told they must resign if they refuse
The Trump administration continues to decimate public services and de-prioritise cybersecurity, with latest cuts coming to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) – where reports claim up to 176 employees have been laid off, with more reassigned to other departments – including those from CISA.
During the federal government shutdown, only around 35% of CISA staffers were cleared to work, but reassignments will affect the department. Early in 2025, the former NSA cybersecurity director warned that mass federal layoffs, including 130 from CISA, would have a ‘devastating impact on cybersecurity’.
“RIFs [reductions in force] will be occurring at CISA,” a DHS spokesperson told The Register. “During the last administration CISA was focused on censorship, branding and electioneering. This is part of getting CISA back on mission.”
Compulsory reassignments
This isn’t the first workforce reduction in a key government department by far, with Elon Musk’s infamous Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeting key software divisions as well as losing other senior officials to resignations.
Recent reporting from Bloomberg confirmed that a number of cybersecurity employees had been forcibly reassigned to move manpower to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) teams. Those who refuse are threatened with dismissal.
This means less focus on threats against US infrastructure, despite a record number of attacks, including high profile and damaging intrusions by foreign threat actors – instead, transferring priority to Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
These reassignments have allegedly been particularly impactful in the CISA Capacity Building team, which is in charge of writing directives and overseas cybersecurity for the government’s high value assets.
This specifically affects senior staffers, who have reportedly been given just a week to either accept or resign, and are forbidden from joining unions due to working on national security issues, insiders have said.
Via The Register
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