Matt Hartman, the deputy executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), plans to depart from the agency. His last day will be May 31.
Chris Butera, CISA’s technical director for cyber, will be stepping in to fulfill Hartman’s responsibilities.
“Matt Hartman has been dedicated to the cybersecurity mission since before CISA was established as an agency in 2018,” Bridget Bean, the senior official performing the duties of the director at CISA, said in a statement to MeriTalk.
“As an expert and leader with the agency’s predecessor organization, Matt has been integral to making CISA what it is today,” Bean said. “His leadership, insight, and guidance has shaped the amazing team that remains steadfast in our mission to safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure against all cyber and physical threats.”
Hartman has served as the agency’s deputy cyber chief since February 2021. Before that, he served as the acting executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA.
He was also an associate director who led CISA’s cybersecurity services portfolio, including Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) and the Quality Service Management Office (QSMO).
In a Tuesday LinkedIn post, Hartman said CISA and its predecessor – the National Protection and Programs Directorate – “represent the most critical chapter of my career.”
“This agency is and will remain a critical component of my identity. And for some reason, which I’ll never fully understand, so many CISA leaders afforded me opportunities to help build this thing,” Hartman said. “To help build the amazing team that will so capably lead CISA into the future. For those opportunities and to those leaders, I am forever grateful.”
While Hartman said he’s still working out his next career steps, he said, “I’m confident I won’t go too far.”
“To the team at CISA (current and former) and across the [U.S. government], keep delivering the mission on which the nation depends. Your commitment to civil service is commendable. I appreciate you,” he wrote.
Hartman’s planned exit follows the departures of Bob Lord, who joined CISA in 2022 as a senior technical advisor, and Lauren Zabierek, who joined CISA in 2023 as a senior advisor. Lord and Zabierek helped lead the agency’s Secure by Design initiative.
Under the new Trump administration, CISA has undergone significant cuts and a refocus on what senior officials call the “core mission.” Last month, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said CISA is undergoing an assessment to better align the nation’s cyber defense agency with its original mission.