Senator puts hold on Trump’s nominee for CISA director, citing telco security ‘cover up’

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden has put a hold on the Trump administration’s nomination of Sean Plankey to head the federal government’s top cybersecurity agency, citing a “multi-year cover up” of security flaws at U.S. telecommunication companies. Wyden said in remarks, seen by TechCrunch and confirmed by the senator’s spokesperson, that he will block the nomination of Plankey to serve as director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) until the agency agrees to release a 2022-dated unclassified report it commissioned detailing security weaknesses across the U.S. telecom network. Senate rules allow for any serving senator to unilaterally and indefinitely hold up a federal nomination. As noted by Reuters, which was first to report Wyden’s hold on Plankey’s nomination, lawmakers often use nomination holds — or the threat of a hold — to demand concessions from the executive branch. Scott McConnell, a spokesperson for CISA, referred comment to the White House, which d ... Read full article.