Trump’s CISA director pick withdraws after tumultuous nomination
Trump’s CISA director pick withdraws after tumultuous nomination
https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/cisa-sean-plankey-withdraw-nomination/818266/
Publish Date: 2026-04-22 17:19:00
Source Domain: www.cybersecuritydive.com
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has withdrawn from consideration for the position, the latest blow to the struggling agency and a significant setback for the Trump administration as it tries to establish a bold new cybersecurity agenda.
“After thirteen months since my initial nomination, it has become clear the Senate will not confirm me,” Sean Plankey wrote in a letter to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, according to POLITICO.
Plankey, who until recently served as a senior adviser for Coast Guard affairs at DHS, hinted in the letter that Trump planned to announce a replacement nominee soon.
“While I humbly request the removal of my nomination,” he wrote in the letter, “I wholeheartedly support President Trump’s upcoming nomination for CISA and look forward to the continued success of the United States of America.”
Plankey, the White House, and DHS did not respond to requests for comment.
Senate stalled Plankey’s nomination
Plankey’s withdrawal caps a tumultuous nomination process.
Cybersecurity experts and industry leaders praised Plankey after Trump picked him in March 2025, but his nomination quickly stalled in the Senate as lawmakers of both parties placed holds on it. The holds had little to do with Plankey himself — Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., objected to CISA’s refusal to release a report on security vulnerabilities in the telecommunications sector, while Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., opposed the Coast Guard reducing a contract with a shipbuilder in his state. But the holds nonetheless stymied Plankey’s nomination.
Plankey’s unceremonious exit from his DHS job in March generated negative attention that further diminished his prospects. (He told allies that he voluntarily left his job to resolve Scott’s Coast Guard objection.) Despite Trump renominating Plankey in January after the initial…
