亚特兰大-美国国家网络安全局(cybersecurity agency)负责确保美国选举安全的工作人员已经被安排休行政假，这危及了向全国各州和地方选举办公室提供的关键支持。
据一位知情人士透露，最近几天，美国网络安全和基础设施安全局(u . s . network Security and infra structure Security Agency)的17名员工与选举官员合作，提供应对一系列威胁的评估和培训，从网络和勒索软件攻击到选举工作人员的人身安全，这些员工已被停职，等待审查。
其中10名雇员是地区选举安全专家努力在2024年选举前扩大外地工作人员和选举安全专业知识。据这位人士说，地区工作人员被告知，内部审查将检查打击外国政府影响美国选举的努力，这些职责被分配给了其他机构的工作人员。
所有人都是前州或地方选举官员，他们被请来在所有50个州和全国8000多个地方选举管辖区建立关系。他们在过去的一年里会见了选举官员，参加了会议和培训，并确保官员们了解该机构的各种网络安全和物理安全服务。
周一，记者请求CISA代表和国土安全部代表置评，但未获回应。
两个政党的州选举官员为CISA的工作辩护帮助保护选举办公室免受一系列网络安全和物理威胁。
肯塔基州国务卿迈克尔·亚当斯是一名共和党人，他说该机构的工作对他所在州的县办事员来说特别有价值。
“我们从CISA获得的最大价值是他们在我们州建立直接关系的人，不仅仅是与我们，还与每个县的办事员建立直接关系，”亚当斯在上个月底的一次采访中说。“他们教他们，帮助他们检查自己的物理安全和网络卫生，这非常受欢迎。”
密歇根州民主党国务卿乔斯林·本森(Jocelyn Benson)在1月下旬的一次采访中表示，该机构一直是州和地方选举官员的重要合作伙伴。
她说:“我希望那些声称关心选举诚信的联邦政府领导人能够认识到这一点。”。
据知情人士透露，其他休假的工作人员是该机构选举安全和恢复团队的现任或前任成员，他们被告知，审查是为了调查该机构打击错误信息和虚假信息活动的努力。与州和地方选举官员一起工作的10名选举安全专家向CISA的另一个小组——外勤业务司汇报工作。
人事变动之际，面对共和党人和特朗普政府关键人物的持续批评，该机构的未来一直受到质疑。唐纳德·特朗普总统的新任国土安全部部长，克里斯蒂·诺姆，她在参议院时说确认听证会上个月，CISA已经偏离了“遥远的使命”，她承诺与参议员合作，“如果你想控制他们。”
川普还没有任命前CISA导演的替代者珍·伊斯特利在国家首都举行的最近的州选举官员会议上，机构领导明显缺席。
CISA成立于2018年第一届特朗普政府期间，负责保护美国的关键基础设施，从大坝和核电站到银行和投票系统。虽然CISA隶属于国土安全部，但它是一个独立的机构，有自己经参议院确认的主任。
特朗普和他的盟友仍然对该机构反击关于2020年总统大选和新冠肺炎疫情的错误信息的工作感到愤怒。
机构官员称CISA是从未订婚在审查中。在2020年大选期间，CISA官员与各州合作，帮助他们通知社交媒体公司在其平台上传播的错误信息，但他们表示，他们从未指示或试图强迫这些公司采取行动。
对于2024年的选举，CISA和其他联邦机构提醒公众各种外国错误信息运动，包括三个与俄罗斯有关的假视频，旨在显示在战场州的选举不当行为。
全国州选举主任协会的一名发言人周一表示，该组织不能对CISA的人事决定发表评论，并期待听到该机构官员关于该组织选举相关工作的计划。
美国国务卿协会的女发言人Maria Benson说，该组织已经要求CISA更新人员配置。她说，CISA“已经向NASS转达了所有网络安全和物理安全服务预计将向州和地方选举官员提供。”
US cyber agency puts election security staffers who worked with the states on leave
ATLANTA --Staffers at the nation’s cybersecurity agency whose job is to ensure the security of U.S. elections have been placed on administrative leave, jeopardizing critical support provided to state and local election offices across the country.
In recent days, 17 employees of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who have worked with election officials to provide assessments and trainings dealing with a range of threats — from cyber and ransomware attacks to physical security of election workers — have been placed on leave pending a review, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Ten of those employees are regional election security specialists hired as part of aneffortto expand field staff and election security expertise ahead of the 2024 election. The regional staffers were told the internal review would examine efforts to combat attempts by foreign governments to influence U.S. elections, duties that were assigned to other agency staff, according to the person.
All were former state or local election officials who were brought in to build relationships across all 50 states and the nation’s more than 8,000 local election jurisdictions. They spent the past year meeting with election officials, attending conferences and trainings, and ensuring officials were aware of the agency’s various cybersecurity and physical security services.
A request for comment Monday to a CISA representative and a representative of the Department of Homeland Security was not returned.
State election officials of both political parties havedefended CISA’s workto help secure election offices from a range of cybersecurity and physical threats.
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican, said the agency’s work had been particularly valuable for county clerks in his state.
“The most value that we’ve got from CISA has been the people that they have on the ground in our state that build direct relationships, not just with us but with the individual county clerks,” Adams said during an interview late last month. “They’re teaching them and helping them check their physical security and their cyber hygiene, and that’s been extremely popular.”
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, said during an interview in late January that the agency had been a critical partner for state and local election officials.
“And I hope that leaders in the federal government who claim to care about election integrity will recognize that,” she said.
The other staffers placed on leave are current or former members of the agency’s Election Security and Resilience team, who were told the review was looking into agency efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation campaigns, according to the person familiar with the situation. The 10 election security specialists who worked with state and local election officials reported to a different team at CISA, the field operations division.
The personnel moves come as questions have been swirling about the future of the agency in the face of sustained criticism from Republicans and key figures in the Trump administration. President Donald Trump’s new homeland security secretary,Kristi Noem, said during her Senateconfirmation hearinglast month that CISA had strayed “far off mission” and she pledged to work with senators “should you wish to rein them in.”
Trump has not named a replacement for former CISA DirectorJen Easterly, and agency leadership was noticeably absent from recent meetings of state election officials in the nation's capital.
CISA was formed in 2018 during the first Trump administration and is charged with protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure, from dams and nuclear power plants to banks and voting systems. While CISA is under the Department of Homeland Security, it's a separate agency with its own Senate-confirmed director.
Trump and his allies remain angry over the agency's work to counter misinformation about the 2020 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Agency officials have said CISA wasnever engagedin censorship. During the 2020 election, CISA officials worked with states to help them notify social media companies about misinformation spreading on their platforms, but they have said they never instructed or sought to coerce those companies to act.
For the 2024 election, CISA and other federal agenciesalerted the publicto various foreign misinformation campaigns, including three fake videos linked to Russia purporting to show election misconduct in battleground states.
A spokesperson with the National Association of State Election Directors said Monday the group could not comment on CISA’s personnel decisions and looks forward to hearing from agency officials about the organization’s plans for election-related work.
Maria Benson, a spokeswoman with the National Association of Secretaries of State, said the group had requested a staffing update from CISA. She said CISA “has relayed to NASS that all cybersecurity and physical security services are expected to be available to state and local election officials.”
