On February 14, the first firings at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), America’s primary cybersecurity agency, were reported.
The CISA terminations, in which approximately 130 employees lost their jobs, were part of a larger Department of Homeland Security (DHS) purge that saw 400 workers fired.
The DHS lied, stating that “non-mission critical personnel in probationary status” were prioritized when slimming down CISA. In reality, many probationary workers at CISA occupy mission critical roles since a significant portion of employees in the agency are probationary as a result of a workforce retention program, Cybersecurity Talent Management System, that was launched in 2021. New workers under the program, who are heavily skilled, are under probation for three years in exchange for higher pay. A fired worker disputed DHS’s flippant explanation:
“It was a total shock,” said the former employee. “I was like, there’s no way they would lay me off, I work on a critical program that’s congressionally mandated.”
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It is unclear who was responsible for the mass firings, as Trump did not nominate a new CISA director or appoint a deputy director. The executive director, Bridget Bean, became acting director in early May. On June 10, she left her post, with Dr. Madhu Gottumukkala replacing her. Bean had three years of experience as executive director and chief integration officer.
As of June 4, “buyouts, early retirements and layoffs” resulted in CISA losing 1,000 employees, a reduction of a third of its workforce. About 700 left under the DHS’s euphemistically titled Workforce Transition Program. The Cybersecurity Division, which protects federal networks and federal agencies, went from roughly 1,100 to 800 workers, while Cybersecurity Advisers, who help the private sector, went from 164 to a mere 97 employees.
The United States, even before most of these firings, struggled to remove the China-backed Salt Typhoon hackers from its phone networks. These terminations present China and other adversaries such as Russia, North Korea, and Iran with further opportunities to wreak havoc.
