Republicans on the House Committee on Homeland Security have said that while the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) isn’t going anywhere despite Federal funding and workforce cuts, the agency needs to get back to its “core mission.”
“We’re not doing away with CISA … I don’t see that happening if they play a pivotal role – but getting them back [to] their core mission of protecting the infrastructure especially is important,” Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., chairman of the committee, said while speaking at a GovCIO Media and Research event on April 3.
The statement follows recent bipartisan criticism of the Trump administration’s recent cuts of at least 4 percent of the cybersecurity agency’s workforce and funding cuts toward cybersecurity initiatives.
Rep. Green said that he wants to instead expand the agency’s efforts in information sharing with its public-private partners to secure the nation’s critical infrastructure.
“[CISA] has to be a good player,” said the chairman about information sharing. “When you give them information, they have to give you information back. And so, we can put our thumb on the scales on that, but it’s really about getting consistent, back to where they were intended.”
Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, echoed similar sentiments while speaking yesterday at an Axonius event.
“We’re very good at taking information but not as good at sharing information,” said Rep. Garbarino.
The representative also shared his vision for CISA to take a larger role in securing the Federal government rather than having cybersecurity efforts fragmented across agencies, saying that he’d “like to see actually more responsibility in [CISA] having a bigger role in defending the Federal government.”
Rep. Garbarino also noted that he is looking to maintain CISA’s oversight of the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) – which provides $1 billion in funding across four years and is up for reauthorization this September.
When speaking about recent cuts made at the agency, Rep. Garbarino said that he is “not thrilled with some of the stuff that has happened,” while noting overall that he believes the Trump administration is taking the mission and goals of CISA seriously.