CISA Nominee Withdraws

Sean Plankey withdrew from consideration to run the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on April 22 after 13 months without a Senate confirmation vote. (politico.com) Plankey wrote to the White House that “it has become clear the Senate will not confirm me,” according to Politico and CyberScoop. Trump first sent his nomination to the Senate on March 10, 2025, and Plankey testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 24, 2025. (politico.com) (congress.gov 1) (congress.gov 2) His nomination cleared the Homeland Security committee on a 9-6 vote, but Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, blocked unanimous-consent deals that leaders needed to move stalled nominees in batches. Politico reported Scott tied his objection to a dispute over a Coast Guard shipbuilding project. (politico.com) (cyberscoop.com) CISA is the civilian cyber agency inside the Department of Homeland Security. It helps federal agencies, utilities, hospitals, election offices and other critical infrastructure owners detect hacks, share threat warnings and respond to intrusions. (cisa.gov 1) (cisa.gov 2) The vacancy lands as CISA is already under acting leadership. CISA’s website lists Nicholas “Nick” Andersen as acting director, and Politico reported he took over in February after another leadership reshuffle. (cisa.gov) (politico.com) The timing also intersects with election administration. CISA says it remains the lead federal agency supporting election security, and the Election Assistance Commission said on April 8 that election officials still rely on CISA services and incident-response contacts. (cisa.gov) (eac.gov) At the same time, the agency is operating through a Department of Homeland Security funding fight. Congress.gov says House bill H.R. 7744 was introduced on March 2 to end a partial DHS shutdown that began on February 14 after a continuing resolution expired, and Nextgov reported on April 17 that Andersen told lawmakers CISA’s resources were “more limited than I would like.” (congress.gov) (nextgov.com) The leadership gap comes as the administration is also proposing changes to CISA’s work. Nextgov reported this month that Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal would eliminate CISA’s election security program, including information-sharing support for state and local officials and dedicated election security advisers. (nextgov.com) Plankey had been seen by some Republicans and cyber officials as a relatively conventional pick: a former National Security Council and Energy Department cyber official in Trump’s first term, and a former Coast Guard officer. With his withdrawal, the White House must choose between sending up a new nominee or leaving CISA in acting hands deeper into 2026. (nextgov.com) (federalnewsnetwork.com)