Bolton pushing to eliminate White House cyber job

Source: Politico | May 9, 2018 | Eric Geller

The move could send the message ‘that the U.S. is taking the gas pedal off of cybersecurity,’ one former NSC official says.

President Donald Trump’s national security team is weighing the elimination of the top White House cybersecurity job, multiple sources told POLITICO — a move that would come as the nation faces growing digital threats from adversaries such as Russia and Iran.

John Bolton, Trump’s hawkish new national security adviser, is leading the push to abolish the role of special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator, currently held by the departing Rob Joyce, according to one current and two former U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the discussions.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of deliberations about internal White House operations.

Cybersecurity experts and former National Security Council officials expressed alarm at the idea of eliminating the job, saying it would undo much of the progress the U.S. has made on cyber efforts and send the wrong message about U.S. priorities in the digital domain. The coordinator — a post created at the beginning of the Obama administration — leads a team of NSC staffers who manage federal cyber strategy on everything from election security to encryption policies to digital warfare.

Bolton’s deputy, Mira Ricardel, supports the idea of eliminating the coordinator role, according to two of the sources. “She’s thinking about whether to simply pick up the [cyber] function on her own,” said one of the former U.S. officials, who added that the odds were “60-40” that the White House would eliminate the job.

…….

Tagged: ,

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.