[Department of Homeland Security]
Rep. Thompson: “Today, there are rumors the President may be cleaning house at CISA, with one high-level official reportedly asked to resign already. This is dangerous. The President’s refusal to put country before ego is a national security threat.”
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Thursday, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, released the following statement on news reports President Trump may be forcing leadership changes at the Department of Homeland Security and its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency:
“For four years, the President has gone to great lengths to dismiss foreign threats to our elections. Despite repeated warnings from the Intelligence Community, the President has mocked concerns about foreign meddling efforts. In the absence of any credible White House effort to defend our elections from foreign interference, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at DHS stepped up. It prepared over 8,000 election jurisdictions to defend their networks against sophisticated state actors, inoculated the public against foreign influence campaigns, and kept Congress informed.
“The President still never missed an opportunity to subvert CISA’s work and even amplified disproven rhetoric aimed at undermining confidence in the integrity of our elections. I commend CISA on remaining steadfast in its commitment to providing accurate information to the public, including its statement Thursday that there is no evidence that any election system was compromised last week.
“Today, there are rumors the President may be cleaning house at CISA, with one high-level official reportedly asked to resign already. This is dangerous. The President’s refusal to put country before ego is a national security threat. A disturbing number of national security positions are already led by ‘acting’ officials.
“The outgoing President must leave the leadership of CISA – and other national security departments and agencies – intact for the next 69 days to ensure the security and continuity of government operations for President-elect Biden. And I call on my Republican colleagues to stand up for national security and use whatever influence they have to prevail upon the President not to eviscerate our national security infrastructure in the remaining two months of his term.”
