DHS, cyber industry mobilize to get CISA director nominee confirmed

A new obstacle in the confirmation process for a key Trump cybersecurity nominee has prompted government and industry officials to mount a final effort to fill the post before year’s end. But with little time left on the congressional calendar, the confirmation remains uncertain.

After Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., placed a hold on Sean Plankey’s nomination to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, cybersecurity policy executives and staff from both the U.S. government and private sector have begun pushing Scott’s office to pull the hold and free up valuable procedural time, according to four people familiar with the matter.

With the hold in place and limited calendar time remaining before January — when the current session of Congress ends and all nominations not held over automatically expire — it’s “most likely” that Plankey would need to be renominated, a fifth person said. All sources for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid about private deliberations regarding the nominee.

Scott’s hold is unrelated to cybersecurity and involves the Department of Homeland Security scaling down a Coast Guard cutter contract with Eastern Shipbuilding Group, which is based in Florida, three of the people said. Plankey is currently serving as a senior advisor in the Coast Guard. The Senate hold was first reported by Politico.

Many in the cybersecurity industry have also communicated to Scott’s office directly that he might kill the cyber nomination and still not get what he wants, two of the people said.

“It’s a national security risk to not have him,” said a current U.S. official aware of ongoing DHS plans to push Scott to lift his hold. “If [Plankey] does not get in there, that’s not something to play around with.”

In the latter part of President Donald Trump’s first term as president, Plankey served as principal deputy assistant secretary for Energy's Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response, overseeing energy sector engagement, preparedness, response efforts and research aimed at safeguarding U.S. energy infrastructure.

Prior to that, he served as the director for maritime and Pacific cybersecurity policy at the National Security Council and also held cybersecurity leadership roles at U.S. Cyber Command. His nomination hearing was held in July.

Nextgov/FCW has asked Plankey, the White House, DHS, CISA and Scott’s office for comment. 

“It is irresponsible and dangerous to the point of malfeasance to leave CISA leaderless in a time of digital war,” Bob Ackerman, a major cybersecurity industry investment figure who chairs the Global Cyber Innovation Summit, said in a statement.

“Failing to confirm [Plankey] will mean the nomination expires and the nation will lose several months more in cyber leadership, preparation, and execution,” Ackerman added. “Our national security and self-determination cannot wait.”

A group of nominations set to be considered in the Senate this week did not include Plankey, raising eyebrows for those watching his consideration. His nomination has faced a slew of other holds from North Carolina Republican Senators Ted Budd and Thom Tillis over disaster funding in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also housed in DHS, though some of those matters appear to have been resolved.

Plankey still faces a possible hurdle from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who said in April that he intends to block his confirmation and only lift the hold once CISA releases a 2022 report on telecom industry security vulnerabilities. CISA said it plans to release the report but has not yet done so.

The lack of a permanent leader at the cyberdefense agency comes as the Trump administration is readying a national cybersecurity strategy, with a release timeline set for early January, said one of the people. CyberScoop first reported the January release time on Thursday.

It also comes as CISA has undergone major workforce shifts this year. The Trump administration has sought to refocus the agency back to its “core mission” amid past GOP misgivings about its activities during the Biden administration.

Across DHS, several employees, including people in CISA, have been marked for reassignments to agencies focused on border security and deportation work. Around a third of the cyber office’s workforce has been terminated or offered deferred resignations since the start of this year.

Last month, Cybersecurity Dive reported that CISA will begin a hiring spree in 2026 because its recent reductions have hampered some of the Trump administration’s national security goals, namely its preparation for potential conflict with China, a major U.S. cyber adversary.