Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, said during her nomination hearing today that she plans to cut back and “refocus” the mission of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) if she is confirmed to lead DHS.
Noem told members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs that the cybersecurity agency has “gotten far off mission in its work trying to counter online foreign disinformation campaigns.”
“They’re using their resources in ways that [were] never intended. The misinformation and disinformation that they have stuck their toe into and meddled with should be refocused back onto what their job is,” Noem said. “[CISA] needs to be much more effective, smaller, more nimble to really fulfill their mission.”
CISA was established in November 2018 during Trump’s first term to bolster cybersecurity and protect critical infrastructure by consolidating DHS functions. The agency became embroiled in controversy when Trump fired then-director Chris Krebs for disputing claims of a stolen 2020 election.
Noem told Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., that she found CISA’s work on combating disinformation related to the 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic “shocking” and if confirmed she would “look forward to working with [lawmakers] on legislation … to rein them in.”
She also explained that the agency should have a narrower focus “to support critical infrastructure and help local and small businesses ensure they can mitigate cyberattacks.”
“What CISA should be doing is helping small entities [protect] critical infrastructure – schools, local governments, state governments, and small – that lack the resources to implement the necessary protections,” Noem said.
One of the key support tools offered by CISA is its State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. However, the South Dakota governor has expressed reservations about this program, having been one of only two governors not to request any funding from it.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., voiced her concern to Noem, asking whether, despite her reservations as governor, she planned to maintain the grant program.
Noem explained that as governor she felt the “strings attached” to accepting the Federal grant outweighed the benefits of the fund.
“All grants within the department will be evaluated when I come in to see what we can do to make sure that they’re actually fulfilling the mission to which they were established,” she further explained, without signaling any definitive support for the program.
