A second CISA employee estimated that “compliance efforts such as secure-by-design may not receive the support they currently benefit from.”
Pushing back on corporate oversight will be a top priority for Musk and other tech billionaires who have sided with Trump. “Assuming Elon Musk remains in Trump's good graces, the technological impact here is going to be significant,” the cyber executive says.
Without high-level White House support, CISA's secure-by-design campaign “becomes toothless,” says first CISA employee. “Some companies will be less willing to comply with these [guidelines] “If they don't have confidence that the executive branch is going to support them.”
CISA staff are also anxiously watching to see whether Trump officials will pressure the cyber agency to step down. its draft regulation Critical infrastructure operators are required to report cyber incidents. Congress mandated the rule in a 2022 spending bill, but groups representing infrastructure operators have complained The draft requirements – which should be finalized by the end of 2025 – are very tough. Trump may force CISA to roll back rules to appease the private sector.
The cyber official says Trump and his allies want to “get rid of anybody who can enforce the rules, because then the rules don't matter.” “In the CISA example, this is going to be quite significant.”
CISA is also preparing for changes to its election security mission. the agency has already dramatically reduced conversation Following up with social media companies about online misinformation a right wing reactionBut Trump's team could force CISA to give up even more of its election security work. CISA employees are concerned that Trump would bar the agency from participating in state and local election officials. “Reliable Information” InitiativeWhich encourages Americans to listen to their local election observers rather than inflammatory online claims.
“I think that job is probably over,” says a third CISA employee.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Trump's choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security, Adopted election conspiracies After Biden's victory in 2020. “Kristi Noem is a Trump loyalist who supported him in his election denial claims, and now she's going to be in charge of the agency that oversees [CISA]“Cyber official says. “I have a lot of questions about what happens there.”
A third CISA employee expects to see “harassment of those working on election security” after Trump takes office.
weaken the authorities
A Trump victory could also have serious consequences for other CISA missions.
Under Biden, CISA benefits comprehensive rights And new funding To Monitor other agencies' networks For suspicious activity, it was transformed into the centralized protector of the federated network, which many experts had always hoped it would become. This could change under Trump, especially if senior officials close to Trump continue to be negligent in their oversight of CISA.