Dive Brief:
- Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem picked South Dakota CIO Madhu Gottumukkala to be the No. 2 official at CISA.
- Gottumukkala hails from Noem’s home state and has served under her successor as governor.
- The new deputy director, who will manage day-to-day operations at an agency facing massive layoffs, has a background in software engineering but not in cybersecurity nor homeland security matters.
Dive Insight:
Gottumukkala’s selection, which CISA confirmed to Cybersecurity Dive, makes him one of the few political appointees at CISA as the agency wrestles with what its mission should be under the Trump administration’s vision of leaner government.
Gottumukkala’s background as a state CIO could be particularly helpful as CISA considers reducing its financial and technical support to local governments. For years, CISA has offered free services and consultations to states and municipalities that struggle to hire their own IT and cyber experts. But Trump’s layoffs are expected to decimate the two wings of CISA that primarily handle this work, the Integrated Operations Division and the Stakeholder Engagement Division.
If CISA’s support recedes and local officials complain, it could fall to Gottumukkala to assuage their worries and help them chart individual paths forward without as much federal help.
As deputy director, Gottumukkala will oversee the agency’s day-to-day operations, including personnel and program changes. This will make him a lead point of contact for employees and outside partners frustrated with the effects of the Trump administration’s downsizing plans, including layoffs, contract cancellations and the rollback of key partnerships.
Unlike his two predecessors as deputy CISA director, Gottumukkala does not have a cybersecurity or homeland-security background; his expertise is in software engineering. Under the first Trump administration and the Biden administration, CISA’s deputy director brought expertise in physical security and emergency management to complement the director’s experience in cybersecurity.
Biden’s deputy CISA director, Nitin Natarajan, was a paramedic who carved out a portfolio that included managing CISA’s work to protect the health-care sector.
It is unclear whether Gottumukkala will take a similar interest in particular sectors or aspects of CISA’s work
