In one of a line of resignations seen from the White House, several members from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council – which is made up of senior executives from industry as well as state and local government that own the critical infrastructure – called it quits in response to a variety of actions by the president.

The resignation letter, obtained by NextGov, cites the president’s response to violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, “insufficient” attention to cybersecurity of critical systems such as the election system and the withdrawal from the Paris climate accords.

“In taking on this duty, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Today, that oath compels me to resign,” the letter reads. “Your actions have threatened the security of the homeland I took an oath to protect.”

“We can confirm that a number of members of the NIAC who had been appointed under the previous administration have submitted their resignation,” a White House official told The Hill. “The NIAC met … as planned with the majority of its members, who remain committed to the important work of protecting our nation’s critical infrastructure.”

The NIAC recently released a report indicating that critical infrastructure is under risk of a “9/11-level cyber attack.”

[Report: Critical infrastructure under risk of ‘9/11-level cyber attack’]

In addition to the mass resignations from the NIAC, the White House has yet to fill many top cybersecurity positions across the government, though many are mixed as to the short term importance of filling these spots.

[How critical is the dearth of cyber political appointees across gov?]


About Mark Pomerleau

Mark Pomerleau is a reporter for C4ISRNET, covering information warfare and cyberspace.

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