The Safety and Infrastructure Security Agency at the US (CISA) has placed several members of its electoral security team with administrative permits, the Department of Internal Security has confirmed to Techcrunch.
Associated Press, citing a person acquainted with the situation, reported on Tuesday that 17 CISA employees were set on a vacation.
In a statement to Techcrunch, Tricia McLaughlin, Secretary of the Department of Internal Security (DHS) confirmed that cisa employees working in foreign influence and misinformation had been placed in administrative leave.
McLaughlin did not confirm how many employees were set at rest, but did not discuss the 17 figure reported by the Associated Press.
“As Secretary Noem stated during the confirmation hearing, CISA should focus on its mission, and we are starting with the safety of elections,” McLaughlin told Techcrunch. “The agency is receiving an assessment of how it has executed its electoral security mission with a particular focus on any job related to malformation.
“While the agency conducts the evaluation, staff who have worked in illness, dis and malformation, as well as foreign-influential operations and disinformation have been placed on administrative permits.”
The affected employees had worked with election officials to oppose a series of online security threats, including Ransomware and the physical security of election workers. According to the Associated Press, 10 of the employees were regional security officials employed to strengthen the security of elections ahead of 2024 elections.
The reported mass comes in the midst of uncertainty about the future of CISA, which was formed in 2018 during the Trump’s first administration. President Trump has not yet appointed a replacement for former Cisa Jen Easterly director, who left the Agency on January 20th.
When it was reached for comment, Cisa pushed DHS.
Updated with comment from the Department of Internal Security.
