CISA appoints new leadership after replacing the acting director following a difficult year

Reports this week said the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is in rough condition after a year marked by cuts, layoffs, and furloughs under the Trump administration. The agency has now changed its top leadership, a CISA spokesperson confirmed.

The decision to remove Madhu Gottumukkala as CISA's acting director—CISA is part of the Department of Homeland Security and is responsible for cybersecurity and technical defence across the federal government—follows a turbulent stretch in which he served as the agency's senior official.

During his time as acting director, Gottumukkala reportedly struggled to manage the agency and sparked security concerns, including reports that sensitive government documents were uploaded to ChatGPT. The agency's headcount was reduced by roughly one-third. Gottumukkala also reportedly failed a counterintelligence polygraph required to access classified material, and, in response, the agency suspended several career officials, including the agency's then-chief security officer.

Before his nomination to CISA as deputy director, Gottumukkala served as chief technology officer for South Dakota under then-governor and now Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

ABC News first reported Gottumukkala's exit.

In a statement shared Friday, CISA spokesperson Marci McCarthy said Gottumukkala had done a "remarkable job." McCarthy said Nick Andersen will take over as CISA's new acting director and added that Gottumukkala has shifted to a new role as director of strategic implementation within the Department of Homeland Security, which houses CISA.

Before being tapped as acting director, Andersen was CISA's senior official overseeing the agency's cybersecurity division.

CISA still lacks a permanent, Senate-confirmed director since Trump returned to the office.

McCarthy said the Trump administration has selected Sean Plankey as the agency's permanent director, a role that requires approval by a majority vote in the U.S. Senate.

The White House re-nominated Plankey to lead CISA in January, after Sen. Ron Wyden blocked Plankey's nomination last year until the agency agreed to release an unclassified report that allegedly details cybersecurity weaknesses at major phone and telecommunications companies. Wyden pushed for the report's publication after hundreds of hacks hit U.S. and international phone and internet providers in attacks tied to the China-backed group known as Salt Typhoon. The Senate has not yet scheduled a nomination hearing for Plankey.

Nextgov reported Thursday that CISA also lost another senior leader, Bob Costello, the agency's chief information officer, who oversaw IT systems and data policy. The outlet reported that Gottumukkala attempted to transfer Costello, but unnamed political appointees blocked the move.