CISA election security officials placed on leave, DHS confirms

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has placed several members of its election security team on administrative leave, the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed to TechCrunch.

The Associated Press, citing a person familiar with the situation, reported on Tuesday that 17 CISA employees have been placed on leave pending review. 

In a statement to TechCrunch, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that CISA employees working on foreign influence operations and disinformation had been placed on administrative leave.

McLaughlin did not confirm how many employees had been placed on leave but did not dispute the 17 figure reported by the Associated Press.

“As Secretary Noem stated during her confirmation hearing, CISA needs to refocus on its mission, and we are starting with election security,” McLaughlin said to TechCrunch. “The agency is undertaking an evaluation of how it has executed its election security mission with a particular focus on any work related to mis-, dis-, and malformation.

“While the agency conducts the assessment, personnel who worked on mis-, dis-, and malinformation, as well as foreign influence operations and disinformation, have been placed on administrative leave.”

The affected employees had worked with election officials to counter a range of cybersecurity threats, including ransomware and the physical security of election workers. According to the Associated Press, 10 of the employees were regional security election officials hired to bolster election security ahead of the 2024 election.

The reported move comes amid uncertainty about the future of CISA, which was formed in 2018 during the first Trump administration. President Trump has not yet named a replacement for former CISA director Jen Easterly, who departed the agency on January 20. 

When reached for comment, CISA deferred to the DHS.

Updated with comment from the Department of Homeland Security.