The Valley Chronicle - Ranking Members Padilla, Morelle Continue to Press Trump Administration on Firings

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and U.S. Representative Joe Morelle (N.Y.-25), Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, continued pressing senior officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) for answers on the status of their election-related work. This comes after not receiving a response to their letter last month on the firings of CISA employees who previously worked on election security, including misinformation and disinformation issues.

“As Ranking Members of the House and Senate Committees with jurisdiction over federal elections, we have a right to understand the changes occurring at CISA given its critical election security mission,” wrote the lawmakers. “Failure to respond to these questions is deeply disturbing given so many high-ranking administration officials’ refusals to accept the outcome of legitimate elections and involvement in spreading election-related mis- and disinformation.”

Since their original letter, more CISA employees have been put on administrative leave, and CISA has paused election security efforts as they rush through an internal assessment behind closed doors without consulting Congress or state and local election officials. Meanwhile, employees of President Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), including a 19-year-old staffer tied to interactions with cybercriminals, have infiltrated CISA’s systems.

“Election infrastructure is critical infrastructure. Changes at CISA could have dramatic impacts on future elections — the cornerstone of our democracy,” continued the lawmakers. “Without a reasonable, transparent process that consults with Congress and Chief Election Officials on a bipartisan basis, we are alarmed that political leadership at DHS and DOGE is directing CISA to undercut the security of our elections, making us more vulnerable to malign foreign actors and risking the safety of election officials.”

The lawmakers also condemned the permanent termination without notice of federal funds for the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC). EI-ISAC is an essential resource for threat monitoring and coordination between state officials on election security matters.

Additionally, the lawmakers highlighted a February 21, 2025, letter from the bipartisan National Association of Secretaries of State to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and pushed CISA to consult with election officials while conducting their assessment. The Secretaries’ letter underscores the need for CISA’s services to ensure the successful administration of elections.

Last week, Padilla and Morelle expressed serious concerns about the dangerous implications for elections following President Trump’s executive order purporting to bring independent regulatory agencies under total control of the White House. Padilla previously denounced the illegal firing of FEC Chair Weintraub and led 10 Democratic Senators to demand President Trump rescind this decision.