Sean Plankey, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), exited his post as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security for the U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday, March 4. First nominated by Trump to lead CISA in 2025 and renominated in January 2026, Plankey posted on LinkedIn that he was stepping away from his role to focus on his pending confirmation. “Now as the President’s Nominee for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency I must pivot and prepare for the task ahead,” he wrote.
He also told associates privately that his departure was intended to resolve a Republican senator’s concerns about his involvement in Coast Guard contracting matters. However, separate reports state that Plankey was escorted out of Coast Guard headquarters and had his access badge removed. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not provide a public explanation, saying it had no personnel matters to announce.
The White House affirmed that Plankey remains its nominee to lead CISA.
Background: Coast Guard Role
While awaiting Senate action on his nomination, Plankey served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security for the U.S. Coast Guard under former Secretary Kristi Noem. In that capacity, he was involved in developing Force Design 2028, a strategic modernization plan for the service, and in helping secure approximately $24.59 billion in capital investment for Coast Guard recapitalization. He described the year in his LinkedIn post as “the most rewarding of my career.”
Because Plankey was a nominee rather than a confirmed official, he was generally expected to avoid involvement in agency operations. His involvement in discussions around cybersecurity contracts created tension with Madhu Gottumukkala – who served as CISA’s acting director until February 26 and had close ties to Noem – as Plankey reportedly pushed for certain contracts to advance while Gottumukkala was uncomfortable approving them.
A Nomination With a Complicated History
Plankey was first nominated in March 2025. Florida Senator (Sen.) Rick Scott placed a hold on the nomination, and it expired at the end of the legislative session without a Senate vote. President Trump renominated him in January 2026.
Separately, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) threatened during a Senate hearing to place holds on Trump nominees more broadly until former Secretary Noem responded to inquiries from his office on immigration enforcement and disaster response funding in North Carolina.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) formally objected to proceeding with Plankey’s nomination, citing CISA’s refusal to release an unclassified 2022 report, “U.S. Telecommunications Insecurity 2022,” commissioned from independent cybersecurity experts. Wyden sought the report’s release beginning in July 2022 and stated CISA had declined to provide copies to Congress or in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, claiming deliberative process privilege. Wyden disputed that characterization, stating his staff’s review found the document to be a factual technical assessment, not a policy deliberation.
Wyden connected the withheld report to the November 2024 Salt Typhoon incident, in which CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed the Chinese government breached multiple U.S. telecommunications companies, compromising call records and private communications of individuals in government and political roles. Vice President Vance subsequently confirmed his communications and those of President Trump were affected. CISA’s own senior telecom security expert filed a whistleblower complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in summer 2024, describing confirmed unauthorized access to U.S. carrier location data and foreign surveillance of voice and text messages.
“I intend to object to considering this nominee until CISA agrees to release this report,” Wyden said.
Leadership Changes at CISA and DHS
CISA has seen several leadership transitions in recent months. Gottumukkala was replaced as acting director by Nick Andersen, the agency’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity. Gottumukkala had separately drawn scrutiny after he was found to have uploaded documents marked “for official use only” to a public version of ChatGPT, prompting an internal review.
On March 5, President Trump announced that Secretary Noem would depart DHS at the end of March, to be replaced by Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin. Whether the incoming secretary would continue to support Plankey’s nomination has not been indicated publicly.
CISA remains without a Senate-confirmed director. The federal government has not enacted minimum cybersecurity standards for telecommunications carriers. Cybersecurity professionals and industry groups have noted that smaller critical infrastructure operators — including water utilities and regional manufacturers — rely on CISA for threat guidance that larger organizations increasingly obtain through private vendors.
