IC Oversight & Policy — 2026-08-02

CISA Rebuilds Election Security Infrastructure Less Than 100 Days Before Midterms After Losing Third of Workforce

BLUFCISA will likely release its election-security plan by August 31, but no written framework can substitute for the 900 personnel and regional infrastructure already lost.

CISA is reassigning its remaining election-security staff into new "liaison" roles meant to rebuild relationships with state and local officials, according to an internal memo obtained by CNN 1. Acting Director Nick Andersen said the agency will issue a public plan within 30 days detailing cyber and physical security resources for states, modeled on security measures used at the World Cup 12. CBS News reports nearly 1,000 CISA personnel, about one-third of the workforce, departed or were removed by mid-2025, cutting staffing from roughly 3,400 to 2,500 3. In a closed-door congressional briefing, a CISA election-security official said the agency's depleted staff could not deliver its normal level of midterm assistance to states, according to a US official cited by CNN 1.

Analysis
CISA will likely publish its promised election-security resource plan by August 31, meeting the 30-day window Andersen set out, but the plan's release will not by itself restore the coordination capacity the agency lost. Moderate confidence attaches to that timeline, resting on the acting director's on-record commitment and a memo already circulated to Capitol Hill rather than on any demonstrated capacity to execute regional-level support. States that spent months building parallel arrangements with private vendors and interstate networks have little incentive to unwind them, since liaisons offer relationship-building, not the tabletop exercises and physical-security assessments the regional offices once ran. The plan's substance, not its timing, will determine whether it closes the gap state officials describe.

3 sources