- CISA staff to be made redundant in latest round of cuts
- Up to 176 employees facing being fired or assigned
- Some employees are moved from CISA to ice – told to resign if they refuse
The Trump administration continues to decimate government services and de-prioritize cybersecurity, with the latest cuts coming to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) — where reports claim up to 176 employees have been laid off, with more assigned to other departments — including those from CISA.
Under the federal government, only about 35% of CISA employees were cleared for work, but allocations will affect the department. In early 2025, the former NSA cybersecurity director warned that mass federal layoffs, including 130 from CISA, would have a “devastating impact on cybersecurity.”
“Rifs [reductions in force] will appear on CISA,” a DHS spokesperson said The register. “Under the last administration, CISA was focused on censorship, branding and electioneering. This is part of getting CISA back on mission.”
Mandatory allocations
This is not far from the first workforce reduction in a key government department, with Elon Musk’s infamous Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeting key software departments as well as losing other senior officials to resignations.
The latest reporting from Bloomberg confirmed that a number of cybersecurity employees had been forced to shift manpower to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) team. Those who refuse are threatened with dismissal.
This means less focus on threats to US infrastructure despite a record number of attacks, including high-profile and malicious intrusions by foreign threat actors – rather than shifting priority to Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
These assignments have reportedly been particularly effective in the CISA capacity-building team, which is responsible for writing directives and overseas cybersecurity for high-value government assets.
This specifically affects senior staff, who have reportedly been given a week to either accept or resign and are prohibited from joining unions because of working on national security issues, insiders have said.
Via The register
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