The Trump administration’s recent cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) sparked concern among cybersecurity professionals, particularly regarding election security. While the cuts represent a small percentage of CISA’s overall workforce, the decision to place election security personnel on administrative leave has raised widespread concerns within cybersecurity circles that the layoffs could ultimately hurt the nation's readiness to fend off future cyberattacks.
Denise Anderson, president of Health ISAC, which facilitates cyber threat intelligence sharing in the healthcare sector, acknowledged the seriousness of the changes but tempered alarmist rhetoric.
"The sky isn’t falling, yet," Anderson said. "But we need to remain vigilant, and industry must step up to fill any gaps left behind by CISA."
“We still have the relationships in place. We’re continuing as business as usual,” Anderson told SC Media. “But the Election Infrastructure ISAC has lost its funding, and that does raise concerns.”
Why this matters to CISOs and the private sector
For cybersecurity companies, corporate CISOs, and financial institutions that rely on CISA’s intelligence streams, the recent cuts raise pressing questions about the future of public-private cybersecurity collaboration. CISA plays a pivotal role in vulnerability reporting, real-time cyber threat intelligence, and coordination between government agencies and private firms, particularly in sectors such as finance, healthcare and critical infrastructure.
Dr. Deepak Kumar, CEO of Adaptiva, compared the agency to an invisible force working behind the scenes to keep digital infrastructure safe.
"CISA has been the back end of the industry," Kumar said in an interview with SC Media. "They’re not necessarily on TV every day, but those of us in the industry rely on them. The impact of these cuts won’t be immediate — but over time, there is a concern they will degrade the ability of cybersecurity companies to respond in time."
CISA’s workforce reductions: Understanding the scale
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced 400 job cuts across its agencies, including 130 positions eliminated from CISA — which had a workforce of approximately 3,600 employees before the reduction, according to the DHS public statements.
The CISA cuts represent about 3.6% of its total workforce reducing its headcount from 3,641 to 3,511. While this is a significant reduction to CISA’s election integrity efforts, it is not a catastrophic loss for the agency overall, Anderson pointed out.
However, what makes these cuts particularly concerning is their disproportionate impact on election security. While many of the layoffs affected probationary employees across different divisions, at least 17 CISA employees focused specifically on election security were placed on administrative leave, according to a report by Democracy Docket.
One CISA insider, speaking on background, confirmed the numbers in an interview to SC Media: “DHS has 400 cuts, and CISA has upwards of 130. Our election security personnel are on administrative leave pending an internal assessment on the election program.”
The CISA press office did not return calls for comment for this article.
Cybersecurity professionals outside of government have echoed concerns over any cuts to CISA. Roger Grimes, a cybersecurity expert at KnowBe4, called the move on a LinkedIn thread “a travesty” and warned that “we need more defenders, not less. We need more of CISA, not less.”
The impact on cybersecurity resilience
While CISA will continue its broader mission, some cybersecurity professionals worry that the agency may see more cuts and as a result will struggle to keep pace with emerging threats.
"Before the cuts, CISA already had a backlog in vulnerability reporting," said Chaz Spahn, director of product management at Adaptiva, in an interview with SC Media. "Cutting staff is only going to make that backlog worse."
Kumar warned that the real impact of these layoffs may not be immediately visible, but will have long-term effects on national cybersecurity readiness.
“The gradual and progressive degradation of back-end infrastructure will take longer to manifest, but when it does, it will be more profound and lasting,” Kumar said offering an analogy. “If you remove three of the eight security cameras protecting your house, you’ve reduced your security posture. Something has to step in and fill that gap. That something will be private industry.”
CISA’s leadership vacuum creates uncertainty
Adding to the confusion, CISA currently lacks a permanent director following the departure of Jen Easterly, leaving the agency without a clear roadmap for 2025.
“CISA is in a difficult position right now,” according the CISA insider. He said the agency is waiting for a presidential-appointed director before it can clearly articulate the new administrations vision and priorities for 2025.
Can ISACs fill in CISA gaps?
While the loss of CISA’s election security personnel has raised concerns, some experts believe the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC) can step up to fill the void. EI-ISAC helps state and local officials monitor and defend against cyber threats to election systems. But it, too, was hit by the budget ax.
The Trump administration also cut funding to EI-ISAC, a DHS-funded organization. In a memo to staff, CISA’s acting director also announced a pause on all election security activities pending an internal review.
These changes, which began after Kristi Noem was sworn in as secretary of Homeland Security, resulted in key election security staff being placed on leave, including regional election security advisers and members of CISA’s Election Resilience team.
Established in 2018, EI-ISAC is operated by the Center for Internet Security (CIS) and has played a crucial role in providing cyber threat intelligence, training, and best practices to state and local election offices.
Despite losing its DHS funding, Health-ISAC’s Anderson remains hopeful that CIS will continue to support the EI-ISAC initiative. EI-ISAC is funded through CISA and CIS. CIS receives federal funding and also generates funding via private sector dues and the sale of cybersecurity tools and services.
Anderson also emphasized that ISACs, in general, have a long history of operating independently from the federal government and pre-date CISA, which was created in 2018.
"Let me clarify — ISACs in general have been around before DHS (2002)," Anderson explained. "The Financial Services ISAC started in 1999, and the National Council of ISACs came into being in 2003, before DHS ever existed. ISACs are communities of trust built on private-sector collaboration, and that model has worked for over 25 years."
With election security increasingly falling to state and local officials, some believe that ISACs, along with private industry, will play a larger role in cybersecurity moving forward.
A silver lining? Former CISA employees are already organizing
While the cuts have caused concern, some cybersecurity leaders see opportunity in the shake-up.
"On social media I’m seeing that some of the people let go from CISA are already forming a new security company," said Spahn. "CISA alumni are well-known experts in the industry — when they speak up, people listen."
Still, as the 2026 and 2028 elections loom, cybersecurity experts, election officials, and industry leaders are bracing for the consequences of CISA’s rollback. The question remains: will private and state-led initiatives be enough to defend democracy, or has the federal government just made the next major cyberattack easier?
