Donald Trump nominates Sean Plankey to head cyber agency CISA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump has nominated Sean Plankey to serve as the chief of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, according to a notice on Congress' website.

Plankey, a former Coast Guard officer who served as director for cyber policy in the first Trump White House, will, if confirmed, oversee America's premier cyber defense agency.

A relatively new body, CISA is charged with protecting the civilian parts of the U.S. government from intrusions and cyberattacks. But the agency's work defending U.S. election infrastructure from foreign meddling has drawn criticism from Republicans who have championed Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen by his former opponent, Joe Biden. When Christopher Krebs, CISA's then-chief, praised the election's integrity, Trump fired him via social media.

Messages seeking comment from Plankey, CISA and the White House were not immediately returned.

CISA, like other government bodies, has been rocked by resignations and mass firings following Trump's inauguration. Last week, former senior NSA official Rob Joyce told lawmakers that the dramatic cull of federal workers would have a "devastating" impact on America's national security.

CISA has said that more than 130 positions with the agency have been cut as of February 14.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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