President Donald Trump plans to nominate Sean Cairncross, a former official at the Republican National Committee, as the next national cyber director, according to a list of planned nominees obtained by Cybersecurity Dive. 

Those nominees are expected to be sent imminently to the Senate to be considered for the confirmation process. 

Cairncross would be the first major nominee for a top cybersecurity role since the Trump administration took office. 

He is founder and president of the Cairncross Group, a strategic consultancy based in Washington, D.C.

Cairncross previously worked as CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corp., an independent government agency that works to reduce poverty by promoting economic growth across the globe.

He served as deputy assistant to the president during the first Trump administration. Prior to that, Cairncross served as chief operating officer of the RNC. Cairncross in 2024 was brought in during the presidential campaign to help the RNC deal with spending, according to Axios. 

Cairncross would succeed former National Cyber Director Harry Coker, Jr., who took over the role from acting National Cyber Director Kemba Walden. Coker oversaw the second implementation phase of the Biden administration’s national cybersecurity strategy.

Coker called on the U.S. to develop further deterrence against state-linked actors from China and Russia during a January discussion with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The U.S. has been dealing with ongoing attacks from China-backed actors against telecom and other critical infrastructure sectors.

Walden was a key player in the development of the Biden administration’s national cybersecurity strategy. 
She took over the role after Chris Inglis stepped down in 2023.