White House Withdraws CISA Director Nomination of Sean Plankey

The White House officially withdrew the ill-fated nomination for Sean Plankey to become director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday.  

President Donald Trump’s move to withdraw the nomination followed a request by Plankey to have his nomination rescinded. That request, according to a letter obtained by the New York Times, was largely because Plankey’s “wife and young family are owed greater certainty and work life balance from their husband and father.” 

“After thirteen months since my initial nomination, it has become clear the Senate will not confirm me,” Plankey wrote in the letter addressed to Trump. 

Plankey was first nominated to lead CISA by Trump in March 2025. While Plankey’s nomination was approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in July on a 9-6 vote, his nomination then stalled until it expired at the end of the year.  

Trump renominated Plankey in January 2026, but little movement on confirming the nominee has taken place in the past four months. 

Both Democrats and Republicans stalled Plankey’s nomination. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., stated he would place a hold on the nomination because of CISA’s refusal to release a 2022 report. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., said he would not move forward with the confirmation over cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief for his state.  

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he was blocking all Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nominations until former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., reportedly also placed a hold on Plankey after DHS terminated a U.S. Coast Guard contract with a shipyard in Florida.  

Plankey, who was serving as a senior advisor at the Coast Guard while awaiting his confirmation, announced a month ago that he left his advisory post to “pivot and prepare for the task ahead” as prospective CISA director.  

Plankey had served as assistant director for infrastructure security at CISA during the first Trump administration. 

No new nominee has been announced yet for CISA director.  

The official withdrawal adds to the mounting list of workforce concerns at CISA. After a controversy tied to internal processes and a polygraph test, former acting Director of CISA Madhu Gottumukkala and Chief Information Officer Bob Costello left the agency last month.  

Nick Andersen, the agency’s former executive assistant director for cybersecurity, stepped in as acting director following Gottumukkala’s departure. Outside of leadership, CISA lost a significant percentage of its workforce last year from White House-ordered reductions in force, in addition to more departures during the ongoing DHS shutdown, which has now lasted over 70 days.