Katko Statement on Jen Easterly for CISA Director

“I am encouraged to see the intent to nominate a Director for the helm of our nation’s lead federal civilian cybersecurity agency. Ms. Easterly brings substantial credibility and a reputation of working productively between government and the private sector to increase the cybersecurity resilience of the nation. On the heels of the SolarWinds cyber campaign and the compromise of the Microsoft email server, CISA has found itself at the forefront of two significant, national cyber incidents in just the last few months. As a nation, we are at a crossroads in our strategy to defend and secure the .gov cyber space, and strong leadership is essential. I continue to call on President Biden to support desperately-needed changes to allow CISA more centralized, real-time visibility into the entirety of the civilian .gov and put CISA on a much needed path to becoming a $5 billion agency.

“I look forward to working with Ms. Easterly and Chairman Thompson to ensure that CISA has the resources, workforce, and authorities it needs to carry out its mission. I would also like to thank Acting CISA Director Brandon Wales for his leadership of the agency during this transition. His efforts have been instrumental. Cybersecurity is a team sport and we must work hand and glove with our industry partners, as a strong public-private partnership is key to advance any major efforts on this issue.

“It’s also critical that federal stakeholders work together to properly clarify roles and responsibilities between the CISA Director, National Cyber Director, and Deputy National Security Advisor for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies. Lack of clarity serves no one’s interests, and the stakes are simply too high to get distracted by jurisdictional turf battles.”