The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 14, 2025
More Trump administration mass layoffs at CISA have experts raising concerns over U.S. readiness for cyber attacks on election infrastructure and federal agency networks. An additional 100 inhouse and contracted cyber specialists were terminated in early March.
The terminations raise the number of layoffs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to an estimated 300, though new CISA leadership has denied recent layoffs. The agency was created in 2017 to protect the U.S. from both foreign and domestic cyber attacks, and serves all agencies of the U.S. government.
As we reported in February, a team assisting state election officials in improving and hardening election systems from foreign and domestic hackers was laid off. Votebeat reported March 11th that CISA’s new leadership informed state election officials that it had suspended operations and funding for the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center.
In addition, a McCarthy-like effort is underway to purge CISA staffers who ran 2020 efforts to combat foreign and domestic disinformation in social media, some concocted by the Trump campaign and its allies.
Reports in cybersecurity journals say the latest layoffs involve so-called “Red Teams” which pressure test the security of government networks. CBS News quoted one cybersecurity expert let go in February as saying about U.S. infrastructure, “We’re being targeted daily, hourly and every single minute.”
We have more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
American Democracy Minute – CISA Pauses All Election Security Programs for Full Review
The Register – CISA pen-tester says 100-strong red team binned after DOGE canceled contract
CISA – Statement on CISA’s Red Team
Infosecurity Magazine – Trump Administration Shakes Up CISA with Staff and Funding Cuts
TechCrunch – DOGE axes CISA ‘red team’ staffers amid ongoing federal cuts
CBS News – Cybersecurity agency’s top recruits decimated by DOGE cuts
Center for Internet Security – “Due to the termination of funding by the Department of Homeland Security, the Center for Internet Security no longer supports the EI-ISAC.”
Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause Election Disinformation, Protect Democracy, Election Worker Legal Defense Network, Center for Internet Security/ISA, IssueOne/Don’t Mess With US.org
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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