Penka Hristovska
Updated on: April 11, 2025
A senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee has temporarily blocked President Trump’s pick to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) over an unreleased report.
Oregon Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden has put the nomination of Sean Plankey as director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on hold, claiming that Plankey has been “actively concealing information” about the vulnerabilities in American telecommunications networks’ security.
“CISA’s multi-year cover-up of the phone companies’ negligent cybersecurity has real consequences,” Wyden said in a statement.
The senator was referring to CISA’s refusal to publicly release a copy of the unclassified 2022 report on “U.S. Telecommunications Insecurity.” After his initial requests, the agency allowed him and his staff to read the report in person at CISA’s office in 2023, Sen. Wyden said, but the agency “continued to stonewall my requests” to let the public read it, too.
“Congress and the American people have a right to read this report, and until CISA releases it, I must object to this nomination,” Wyden said.
CISA has said that the report is protected by a “deliberative process privilege,” but the senator pushed back on these claims, insisting it’s a “technical document containing factual information about U.S. telecom security.”
Wyden also pointed to last year’s Salt Typhoon cyberattack, linked to China, which affected nine major telecom companies, including AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, in a widespread breach, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
“This espionage incident, and the harm to U.S. national security caused by it, were the direct result of U.S. phone carriers’ failure to follow cybersecurity best practices, such as installing security updates and using multi-factor authentication, and federal agencies failing to hold these companies accountable,” he said.
“While it is too late to prevent the Salt Typhoon hack, there is still time to prevent the next incident. As such, I intend to object to considering this nominee until CISA agrees to release this report, which will enable Congress and the public to better understand the current threats and the need for stronger cyber defenses.”
