Homeland Security cybersecurity and infrastructure security agencies, or employees of CISA, have been given a postponed offer of resignation as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to reduce the federal government. The CISA plays a key role in advocating for critical US infrastructure.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Hide the caption
Toggle caption
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA employees, initially, will receive a more broader resignation offer to receive a postponed resignation offer due to their role in national security and the defense of critical infrastructure. It was removed from the government’s offer.
However, on Wednesday, some CISA staff were only given an offer and a few hours to decide whether to accept it, according to three sources who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity.
This is the latest move in the Trump administration’s broader efforts to reduce the federal government.
“Team CISA, I write to provide updates by CISA employees. May I will be participating in the postponed resignation program (“Fork on the Road”),” Bridget Bean wrote. , and no matter which decision you make, we will support you. ”
Bean also wrote that the offer will expire by midnight on Thursday, February 6th, 2025. It is unclear whether the offer is legally binding, or whether Congress will adequately fund it to pay it after March.
The “Fork in the Road” program reflects the language that social media companies posed for Twitter employees at the time after being acquired by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Doge staff have joined the Treasury last week with federal agencies from the State Department, demanding access to confidential files and systems, prompting widespread protests and legal challenges.
Government cybersecurity employees are panicking at the level of free access given to young, often inexperienced doge staff working under musk. The access reportedly extends to the Treasury payment system and to an access system to expand into a controlled access system for sensitive aid payments at agencies such as the U.S. International Development Agency. I’m doing it.
The federal government itself may now have a thin class of cybersecurity experts.
“At this point, CISA employees may be considered in a postponed resignation program,” a CISA spokesman wrote in an email to NPR. “CISA remains committed to ensuring the continuity of our mission while supporting our employees through this process.”
The CISA was established during the first Trump administration in 2018. At the time, President Trump explained the laws establishing the agency as “important.”
“Every day, our enemies in America test our cyber defense.” He said. “They try to access our critical infrastructure, exploit great businesses, undermine our way of life, and we can’t make it happen.”
In 2020, CISA created a website called “Rumour Control” to expose disinformation about election safety during the 2020 US presidential election. The agency concluded that there was no evidence of election tampering, but the Trump administration argued that it was not, and CISA director Chris Krebs was pushed out.
After President Trump launched his second term in January, the White House acted swiftly to remove all members of the DHS advisory committee, including the CISA Cybersecurity Advisory Committee and the Cybersecurity Review Committee. did. President Trump’s choice to lead DHS Christy Noem has vowed to scale back the agency and return it to its mission to protect critical infrastructure.
Still, Republican lawmakers and Trump officials have tightened their criticism of the CISA in recent weeks.
The CISA has been an important part of discovering and responding to a wide range of spying activities targeting US communications by Chinese state-sponsored hackers called “Salt Typhoon.” These hackers stole phone records from US news outlets, including President Trump and his then-Vice President JD Vance.
Experts concluded that CISA could be safe from wider Trump efforts to cut federal agencies, replace staff, and eliminate programs.
Now, that conclusion is the issue.
The CISA is not the only institution that could lose the experts experienced in fighting nation-state hackers, advocating critical infrastructure, and gathering digital intelligence.
Earlier this week, the Director of the National Intelligence Bureau, the Central Intelligence Agency and the “qualified” intelligence agent of the National Security Agency were given similar offers, but it is unclear which sensitive or high-ranking positions will be ruled out.
Meanwhile, all staff at the US International Development Agency, or USAID, will be on administrative leave by Friday as overseas employees will be asked to leave the post and return to the United States within the next month. Billions of dollars aid agencies around the world are already affected by staffing disruptions and the Trump administration’s suspension of foreign aid funds.
At USAID, the relatively new digital technology office does not advise its partners on cybersecurity, technology or human rights. The agency’s digital strategy is no longer available online and was developed during the first Trump administration, and “promoting Beijing’s efforts to promote safe 5G access in emerging markets and equip Beijing’s administration with tools It was praised by the Conservative Think Tank Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. Restrain democracy.”
