US Lawmakers Seek Short-Term Extension of Key CISA Cybersecurity Authorities Amid Agency Leadership Turmoil
Congressional leaders introduced a compromise federal funding package that would temporarily extend two major U.S. cybersecurity authorities—the 2015 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Act (which provides liability protections intended to encourage private-sector cyber threat information sharing with the federal government) and the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program—through September 30. The proposal follows prior stopgap extensions after the statutes lapsed, and comes as lawmakers debate longer-term reauthorization options, including competing House and Senate proposals and a draft approach from Sen. Rand Paul that would remove the original law’s liability protections.
Separately, reporting highlighted internal leadership instability at CISA: acting director Madhu Gottumukkala reportedly attempted to remove or reassign CISA CIO Robert Costello via a management-directed reassignment, but was blocked after objections from other political appointees within DHS. The episode adds to concerns about decision-making and turnover at the agency at a time when CISA is responsible for coordinating federal cyber defense, incident response support, and collaboration with state, local, and private-sector partners—functions that could be affected by sustained leadership disruption.
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