Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) sent a letter to President Trump this week expressing bipartisan concern over his decision to get rid of the White House's top cybersecurity post and urging him to finalize and present a national cybersecurity strategy as soon as possible.
“We write today to express our concern regarding the decision to eliminate the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator position in the National Security Council,” wrote Collins and Heinrich, both of whom sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“We believe that the nature of the cyber threats facing our nation, their increasing number, and the difficult policy questions they raise lend themselves to a centralized Administration approach,” they wrote.
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The cybersecurity coordinator, a post created under the Obama administration, was responsible for streamlining cyber policymaking efforts across the federal government.
Cyber Coordinator Rob Joyce left to rejoin the National Security Agency earlier this month, and instead of replacing him, the National Security Council under new National Security Advisor John Bolton simply eliminated the job.
“The National Security Council’s cyber office already has two very capable Senior Directors. Moving forward, these Senior Directors will coordinate cyber matters and policy. As they sit six feet apart from one another, they will be able to coordinate in real time,” NSC spokesman Robert Palladino said.
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Without explicitly calling for the position to be reinstated, Collins and Heinrich wrote, “An empowered cybersecurity coordinator is needed to drive and oversee a comprehensive, White House-issued cybersecurity strategy to include deterrence, defense, and network resilience that coordinates U.S. government efforts across the various departments and agencies.”
Broadly, the senators also signaled concern over a lack of public strategy from the White House to deter, defend against and respond to cyberattacks.
They pressed Trump to quickly complete and release a national strategy to help defend critical U.S. assets — from the financial system to the energy grid — from cyber threats and to deter nation-state hackers.
Senators express concern over Trump's decision to scrap top cyber post (The Hill)