Us Cyber Agency's Future Role In Elections Remains Murky Under The Trump Administration

The nation's cybersecurity agency has played a critical role in helping states shore up the defenses of their voting systems, but its election mission appears uncertain amid sustained criticism from Republicans and key figures in the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump has yet to name anyone to lead the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security, and for the first time since it was formed, there are no plans for anyone in its leadership to address the annual gathering of the nation's secretaries of state, which begins Thursday in Washington.

Trump's new homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem , said during her confirmation hearing that the agency had strayed "far off mission." She pledged to work with senators 'should you wish to rein them in" with legislation.

The agency, commonly known as CISA, was formed in 2018 during the first Trump administration and is charged with protecting the nation's critical infrastructure, from dams and nuclear power plants to banks and voting systems. While it's under the Department of Homeland Security, CISA is a separate agency with its own Senate-confirmed director.

The agency has received bipartisan praise from many state and local election officials, but Trump and his allies remain angry over its efforts to counter misinformation about the 2020 presidential election and the coronavirus pandemic. The agency's first director, Chris Krebs, was fired by Trump after Krebs highlighted a statement issued by a group of election officials that called the 2020 election the "most secure in American history."