Trump to soon nominate CISA head, DHS secretary says
Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin testifies during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing in the Cannon House Office Building on June 03, 2026 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Markwayne Mullin said a nominee to lead the cyber agency is coming soon, even as questions remain over whether an IBM security executive remains a leading candidate.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told lawmakers that President Donald Trump will soon nominate a candidate to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — a subcomponent of the department he leads. It remains unclear if an industry contender that has been under consideration will ultimately be selected.
Last month, Nextgov/FCW first reported that IBM security services lead Tom Parker was being considered for the role. As of early May, Mullin submitted a name to the White House that was not Parker, a person familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to communicate details of the process.
The Trump administration had its own list of picks, and DHS and the White House in recent weeks have likely been negotiating and vetting candidates to settle on a final choice, added the person.
“We’ve got a person soon to be nominated that will be running CISA that has the ability to recruit and focus on the authorities we have,” Mullin said in a Wednesday budget hearing held by the House Homeland Security Committee. “We want CISA to be the leader of cybersecurity. They should be and they will be.”
Asked about this directly, Parker told Nextgov/FCW that, since the story about his consideration ran, he’s received “an outpouring of support” from industry, current government employees that previously held roles in the private sector and former high-ranking government officials.
CISA has been without a permanent director since Trump retook office last year. Sean Plankey had previously been nominated to lead the cyberdefense agency, but he withdrew after being caught up in issues concerning Coast Guard cutter contracts with a GOP senator.
Nick Andersen has been leading the agency in an acting capacity since its previous acting leader, Madhu Gottumukkala, left in February following a series of leadership incidents during his tenure.
The agency has lost around a third of its workforce in the last year amid Trump administration efforts to shrink the size of the federal government and address other long-prevailing GOP concerns about the cyber agency’s activities.
In the Wednesday hearing, Mullin told the committee that CISA needs around 2,800 people, based on views from the White House, compared to the around 2,200 people currently staffed. DHS recently emerged from a record funding lapse under which CISA was forced to cancel hiring for interns under the Cyber Corps: Scholarship for Service program.