The U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA is reportedly facing significant challenges, based on insights from bipartisan lawmakers and industry leaders who are concerned that the agency’s capability to fulfill its primary mission has weakened, leaving it ill-equipped for a cybersecurity emergency.

Tim Starks from news site Cyberscoop engaged with various sources from Congress, the private cyber sector, and other areas, yielding a widespread agreement that CISA has been adversely affected by budget cuts and layoffs during the initial year of the Trump administration.

During this period, CISA has witnessed a reduction of approximately one-third of its workforce, resulting in the loss of programs, personnel, and expertise, which includes critical initiatives like the counter-ransomware strategy and efforts to advance secure software development. Some of these losses have involved several members of its election security team, as reported by TechCrunch last year. As the federal agency tasked with election security, CISA’s resources have been constrained, and some have cautioned that Trump’s continued fixation on promoting falsehoods about the 2020 election has led the administration to deprioritize CISA.

Additionally, CISA also reallocated hundreds of staff members to support other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security as part of the Trump administration’s extensive immigration enforcement efforts.

Numerous sources quoted by Cyberscoop attribute the agency’s troubles to either the Trump administration, Congress, or a combination thereof. Others have pointed to CISA’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, as struggling to effectively lead the agency, reportedly resulting in security complications.

Since Trump took office in 2025, CISA has been without a permanent director.

The cybersecurity agency is currently said to be functioning at around 38% of its staffing capacity as the partial U.S. federal government shutdown, initiated on February 14, continues. Lawmakers have opted not to sustain funding for federal immigration authorities in light of widespread criticism following the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents.

When contacted for a statement, CISA’s Gottumukkala informed TechCrunch that the agency “remains steadfast in its dedication to safeguard our federal networks against malicious cyber threat actors despite the ongoing multi-week government shutdown” of Homeland Security.