CISA Cannot Drift: Will Sean Plankey Be The Captain To Lock The Wheel?

Forbes

7 days ago

UNITED STATES - JULY 24: Sean Plankey, nominee to be director of the Cybersecurity and ... More Infrastructure Security Agency, testifies during his Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen building on Thursday, July 24, 2025.
America's top cyber defense agency is flying without a captain and time is running out. On July 24 President Trump's nominee to lead the agency, Sean Plankey, appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in a well-received confirmation hearing. After months of delays, paperwork issues and a procedural hold by Sen. Ron Wyden the panel appears ready to advance his nomination to the full Senate.
Plankey has in recent months been working as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's senior adviser overseeing the Coast Guard, where he also served for years including as a cyber leader. Plankey brought a steady hand and deep operational experience to the confirmation hearing. He cited the significant Coast Guard funding increase in the latest Congressional budget as proof of Noem's willingness to go to bat for cyber and infrastructure security.
The Clock Is Ticking On CISA Leadership
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is the nation's digital sentry. It guards civilian federal networks, supports the defense industrial base and shares threat intelligence with private companies that operate essential systems. Yet the agency has been operating with significantly reduced senior leadership and dealing with budget pressures.
Since the departure of former CISA Director Jen Easterly earlier this year the agency has lacked steady leadership. Easterly, nominated by President Biden, advanced his administration's agenda by adding misinformation and election security to the CISA mandate. Every week without a confirmed director represents opportunity for adversaries like China and Russia as well as criminal syndicates that constantly probe for vulnerabilities.
House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Garbarino warned that every minute without CISA's top leadership benefits nation state actors like Salt Typhoon. In today's threat environment leadership vacuums translate directly into risk.
Plankey Brings A Mission First Reset
Sean Plankey has been serving as senior adviser for the U.S. Coast Guard to Homeland Security ... More Secretary Kristi Noem.
A cyber veteran who served on the National Security Council and as the Department of Energy's most senior cybersecurity official in the first Trump administration, Plankey brings a rare combination of federal experience and operational credibility.
Plankey told senators that he would refocus CISA on its congressional mandate which means defending federal systems critical infrastructure and supporting states. He drew a clear line on one of the most politically charged questions facing the agency: content moderation.
'CISA will not do any of that work,' Plankey said when asked about speech policing. His position reflects an effort to keep CISA grounded in its core mission rather than drifting into broader debates over online content.
When pressed on election disputes Plankey stayed neutral. He stated simply that elections are run by the states and CISA's role is to provide support not to referee politics.
He also signaled strong support for reauthorization of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, a foundational law that enables threat intelligence sharing between private companies and government.
Why Narrowing The Mandate Matters
Over the years CISA's mission has grown into areas like disinformation and pandemic messaging. That expansion diluted focus and triggered political backlash. Plankey and his supporters in Congress are signaling that it is time to strip away distractions and return to core tasks.
This approach does not weaken cyber defense. It strengthens it. When agencies chase every new issue, specially politicized ones, they risk losing sight of the fundamentals. With CISA's responsibilities increasingly tied to civilian infrastructure from pipelines to hospitals clear priorities are essential.
Plankey also highlighted two critical programs that expire on September 30.
Plankey signaled he is prepared to fight for both programs and stated that he knows how to go to Secretary Noem to request more funding if needed. Congress will need to deliver as well.
Civilian Infrastructure Is Now Mission Critical
Much of the responsibility for cyber defense is shifting to the networks, utilities and companies that power daily life. The private sector now sits on the front lines and its actions will determine how resilient the nation is in the face of escalating cyber threats.
Standards like the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework and modern supply chain security protocols are no longer optional checklists. They are becoming the foundation of national defense. Critical infrastructure operators and the defense industrial base must go beyond compliance and embed these standards into everyday operations. That means segmenting networks, conducting regular threat hunting, hardening endpoints and practicing incident response as rigorously as fire drills.
If state and local systems are not hardened, if telecom carriers are not meeting baseline expectations, if airlines, airports, railways, shipping ports, financial institutions and hospitals are not securing critical systems then the entire security structure is at risk. Every weak link becomes an opening for adversaries. Every delay in upgrading defenses becomes a window for attackers.
The nation's ability to defend itself now depends as much on the vigilance of power companies, water authorities, transportation hubs, manufacturers, defense suppliers, banks and healthcare networks as it does on any federal agency. This means investing in modern security architectures, implementing continuous monitoring and ensuring that every sector has clear response plans that are tested and updated. Without that collective effort, the country's cyber defense will always be one breach away from failure.
CISA Cannot Remain Leaderless.
The mission is too important. Sean Plankey brings the right pedigree, a Coast Guard foundation in operational security, a focused mission plan and the credibility to guide the agency forward. He has received broad bipartisan and cybersecurity endorsements. Now is the time to set aside political posturing and focus on the shared goal of securing the nation's digital front lines. The damage from delaying his confirmation is greater than the debate surrounding it. Other agencies can address the issues where consensus does not exist.
The hope is that the Senate would move swiftly to confirm him. Every day without leadership at CISA is a day when adversaries gain ground, vulnerabilities deepen and the nation's critical systems face greater risk. The threats are real and accelerating. The country cannot afford hesitation when decisive action is required.