CISA Leadership Shakeup Amid DHS Shutdown

The U.S. cyber defense agency is going through a major leadership shakeup – again – following months of staffing turnover, budget cuts and shutdowns that close observers say have hampered federal defenders’ ability to protect government systems and critical infrastructure.

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The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency confirmed multiple leadership changes in a Friday statement. Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala is moving into a senior strategy role at the Department of Homeland Security, of which CISA is a component.

CISA’s Cybersecurity Executive Assistant Director Nick Anderson will now serve as the agency’s new acting chief while the White House awaits Senate confirmation of its nominee to permanently lead the agency.

Gottumukkala “has done a remarkable job in a thankless task of helping reform CISA back to its core statutory mission,” a senior DHS official said. The former acting director “tackled the woke, weaponized and bloated bureaucracy that existed at CISA.”

Gottumukkala will now serve as DHS director of strategic implementation, a role the department said will focus on advancing Secretary Kristi Noem’s priorities to curb “waste, fraud and abuse.” He is expected to help translate policy direction into operational execution across DHS components in his new role.

Anderson, who currently leads CISA’s cybersecurity division, will assume day-to-day leadership of the agency as acting director. His previous role involved overseeing federal civilian network defense, vulnerability management programs and coordination with critical infrastructure operators during major cyber incidents.

CISA is currently operating without the majority of its staff due to a lapse in appropriations that went into effect Feb. 14. Congressional Democrats have vowed not to fund DHS without changes to immigration detention operations conducted by other departmental bureaus. Gottumukkala told lawmakers shortly before the shutdown the agency planned on designating 888 of its 2,341 employees as “excepted” personnel who would still continue working without pay during a funding lapse.

Multiple current and former officials have described internal friction in recent months over management of the agency, particularly as CISA has endured a turbulent period of budgetary threats and major cuts (see: No Vote, No Leader: CISA Faces 2026 Without a Director).

Politico reported that CISA’s chief information officer and acting chief human capital officer were recently told to accept reassignment within DHS or resign. The department’s statement did not directly address those reported directives.

The agency has operated without a Senate-confirmed director for nearly a year, leaving management in the hands of acting officials. In recent weeks alone, CISA has warned about active exploitation of edge devices and enterprise networking technologies widely deployed across government and critical infrastructure. Officials have openly acknowledged that staffing disruptions and funding uncertainty complicate the agency’s ability to surge resources during major incidents and sustain long-term modernization efforts (see: CISA: DHS Funding Lapse Would Sideline Federal Cyber Staff ).