On this edition of Your Call's Media Roundtable, we're discussing a ProPublica investigation exposing how the Trump administration has tried to use the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) for its own ends while draining it of resources to help its mission of protecting the nation’s voting systems.
According to Propublica, the Trump administration has laid off or pushed out more than 1,000 CISA employees, shrinking the agency by about one-third. Trump's 2027 budget proposal would reduce funding for the agency by another $700 million, which could necessitate 900 additional layoffs.
In response, Democratic lawmakers have called for an investigation into CISA’s ability to do its job and demanded answers as to why federal funds are not being used to support election security as directed by Congress.
Since Trump signed the CISA Act in 2018, the agency has worked with state authorities and voting machine vendors to help protect election infrastructure from cyberattacks. During Trump’s second term, though, CISA has abandoned much of this work. Several state election authorities said the agency provided them no assistance — and no explanation for its absence — during the most critical planning stages for the upcoming midterms.
Guest:
Andy Mannix, investigative journalist covering the Midwest for ProPublica
Resources:
ProPublica: Trump Appointees Asked a Federal Cybersecurity Agency to Secretly Acquire a Voting Machine — and Hack It
