Memo: CISA orders a review of every position related to election security work since 2017, to comply with Trump's January 20 EO on “ending federal censorship”
CISA's election-security role had previously included a broad operational effort around the 2020 vote, including a 24/7 virtual Election Day war room. This review puts that state-facing mission under scrutiny rather than expanding it.
The move also sits uneasily beside a prior White House push for agencies to meet baseline cyber practices after many had not fully complied with a 2021 cybersecurity order. It makes election assistance a distinct point of policy conflict within the federal cyber mission.
First-order effects
CISA has paused efforts to help states secure elections while it reviews every election-security-related position going back to 2017.
Staff and programs tied to that work face immediate uncertainty over their remit as CISA applies the administration's order on “ending federal censorship.”
Second-order effects
State and local election offices must plan around a pause in federal support, shifting more of the near-term coordination and security workload to their own teams and other partners.
If election-security work remains subject to recurring political review, CISA's ability to sustain a consistent state-support function could become less predictable across administrations.
The episode points to a broader governance challenge: federal cybersecurity mandates may remain intact while politically sensitive applications of those mandates receive different operational treatment.
The trend: Election security is becoming a contested segment of ecosystem cyber defense, where the durability of federal support depends increasingly on the administration's view of the mission.
Nothing the administration has done has even glanced at protecting democracy and the rule of law, and there is no reason to expect otherwise. This is the best it will be. Unless it is stopped. [embedded post]
NEW: A memo obtained by @wired.com shows that CISA is reviewing every position related to election security & countering mis- and disinformation and frozen the agency's election security work. @ericgeller.bsky.social reports: www.wired.com/story/cisa-e...
If you work at CISA and have thoughts or tips about this review or anything else happening at the agency, please reach out to me. The Wired folks helpfully included my Signal username (ericgeller.01) in this story! [image]
Per the memo, CISA will review every staff position related to election security, all services provided to election officials, and all published ES guidance, and then describe steps necessary to “correct any activities identified as past misconduct related to censorship...”
CISA will then submit a report to the White House explaining how it plans to refocus its election security work based on its core cyber and physical security mission, including limiting services and ending work that conflicts with Trump's anti-censorship EO.
The New York Post first reported tonight that CISA was freezing and reviewing election security work, but we at @WIRED are the first to report on the acting CISA director's memo to staff explaining what that review will entail and why it's happening. [image]
NEW: @CISAgov pausing all election security work & conducting review of that work dating back to 2017. Memo from acting director says agency is complying w/ Trump's EO on “ending federal censorship” & will “rescope” its ES work to align w/ core mission. https://www.wired.com/... …