Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has placed a hold on President Trump’s nominee for director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Sean Plankey, pointing to concerns over an alleged multi-year effort by the agency to conceal cybersecurity weaknesses at major U.S. telecommunications providers.
According to Senator Wyden’s statement, he intends to block Plankey’s confirmation until CISA agrees to disclose a critical report, commissioned in 2022, that outlines serious security vulnerabilities within the U.S. telecom infrastructure. Though the report was classified as unclassified, it remains unavailable for public review.
Under Senate rules, any senator may exercise the authority to delay or prevent a presidential nomination from proceeding indefinitely. Wyden’s actions reflect a common practice among lawmakers, who frequently utilize holds to extract policy concessions from the executive branch.
Citing security breaches discovered last year involving Chinese state-sponsored hackers known as Salt Typhoon, Wyden emphasized that failures by major telecommunications carriers to adhere to fundamental cybersecurity measures led directly to the infiltration. These cyberattacks reportedly allowed the hackers unprecedented access, enabling them to monitor communications—including texts and phone calls—of numerous high-ranking U.S. officials.
Previously, Senator Wyden sought the public release of the CISA report both during the Biden administration’s tenure under then-Director Jen Easterly and prior to the transition to the current administration, but his requests were denied. Wyden maintains that the document contains critical factual data the American public deserves to access.
In response to these breaches, Wyden introduced legislation in late 2024 to mandate robust cybersecurity safeguards, frequent audits, and annual testing for telecommunications providers. Despite these measures, currently, no minimum federal cybersecurity standards for phone carriers exist, according to Wyden.
CISA declined to comment directly, referring inquiries to the White House. The White House has so far not responded publicly to requests for comment on either Wyden’s hold or the report in question.
