Trump administration halts US funding for two cybersecurity efforts, including for elections

The United States has cut millions of dollars in funding from two cybersecurity initiatives, including one dedicated to helping state and local election officials.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, has ended about $10 million (€9.5 million) in annual funding to the non-profit Center for Internet Security, a CISA spokesperson said in an email on Monday.

It’s the latest move by Trump administration officials to rein in the US government’s role in election security, which has prompted concerns about an erosion of guardrails to prevent foreign meddling in US elections.

CISA announced a few weeks ago that it was conducting a review of its election-related work, and more than a dozen staffers who have worked on elections were placed on administrative leave.

That followed an administration move to disband an FBI task force focused on investigating foreign influence operations, including those that target US elections.

"I have grave concern for state and local election officials and for the security of our elections going forward," said Larry Norden, an election security expert at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU’s School of Law.

Criticism over countering misinformation

In recent years, CISA has faced sustained criticism from Republicans over past efforts to counter misinformation about the 2020 presidential election and the coronavirus pandemic.

Previous CISA leadership had said the agency never engaged in censorship and only worked with states to help them notify social media companies about misinformation spreading on their platforms.

The two cybersecurity initiatives facing cuts are the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which included state and local election officials along with representatives of voting system manufacturers, and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which has benefited state, local, and tribal government offices.

Both have been organised within a non-profit, the Center for Internet Security.

The activities no longer being funded include cyber threat intelligence, cyber incident response, and engaging with state and local government officials.

In a statement, the agency said ending the funding will help "focus CISA’s work on mission critical areas, and eliminate redundancies".

The National Association of Secretaries of State, comprised of top state election officials from across the country, was seeking information from CISA about the move and its recent election-specific review, said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat who is president of the bipartisan group.

Simon said he was waiting for more information before drawing conclusions.

President Donald Trump has yet to nominate someone as CISA director.

The agency was formed in 2018 during the first Trump administration and is charged with protecting the US' critical infrastructure, from dams and nuclear power plants to banks and voting systems.