CISA completed its election security review but won’t make the results public; Secretary Hegseth issues a new directive on DOD software acquisition

When the Trump administration began sidelining and laying off personnel at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, it started by targeting employees who worked on election security and disinformation. At the same time, the Department Homeland Security announced it would conduct a comprehensive review of CISA’s election security mission. Last week, the agency confirmed that it has completed the review, but said that its findings won’t be released to the public. A spokesperson for the agency said: “The assessment that CISA has undertaken is internal and will help inform how the agency moves forward to best support critical infrastructure. This is an internal document that is not planned to be released publicly.” A DHS spokesperson told CyberScoop in an email that the department had nothing else to share at this time. Secretary Pete Hegseth is directing all Defense Department components to embrace a rapid software acquisition pathway and use commercial solutions opening and Other Transaction authority to speed up the procurement of digital tools for warfighters. The department’s Software Acquisition Pathway was set up during the first Trump administration under then Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord as part of a broader push for a so-called Adaptive Acquisition Framework that enables the department to procure software differently than it buys hardware. Programs on that pathway are not subject to some of the encumbrances associated with the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System and major defense acquisition program designations. Now, Hegseth wants to make sure all DOD components are taking advantage of the pathway.