President Donald Trump has nominated Michael LoSapio, chief information security officer at data analytics company Palantir, to direct the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Nextgov/FCW reported Monday night. If confirmed, he would lead the federal agency that defends civilian government networks and works with operators of power grids, water systems and telecommunications networks, which has gone nearly 22 months without a Senate-confirmed director.
What Happened
The nomination is on the list of nominations and withdrawals the White House sent to the Senate on Nov. 9. It names LoSapio, of New Jersey, as CISA director at the Department of Homeland Security, succeeding Jen Easterly, who resigned and left the agency in January 2025.
Citing his LinkedIn profile, Nextgov/FCW reported that LoSapio has been Palantir's security chief since September 2024 and led the company's infrastructure and network security group from December 2017. He was earlier a Palantir systems engineer, spent more than a year at database company SingleStore and held systems engineering jobs at New York University and Seton Hall University. He did not immediately respond to Nextgov/FCW's request for comment.
Trump's first pick, Sean Plankey, withdrew in April after more than a year awaiting a vote. His nomination was caught in a dispute with Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., over Coast Guard contracting, Nextgov/FCW reported, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., placed one of several holds on it, according to CyberScoop. A hold is a senator's objection that blocks quick floor action.
The same list carried 22 nominations and one withdrawal, including Christopher Mufarrige for a Federal Trade Commission seat and the withdrawal of David MacNeil's FTC nomination.
Why It Matters
Nick Andersen has run CISA as acting director since February. CyberScoop reported that he was running short of days he could legally serve in that role and that a nomination could pause the clock. The Primary Wire reported Nov. 2 that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act generally caps acting service at 210 days and, citing CyberScoop, that the administration had weighed changing Andersen's title to keep him in place.
For companies in critical sectors, the director sets the tone of the agency they rely on for threat warnings and coordination. CISA's workforce has shrunk by roughly a third since Trump returned to office, and the agency has moved to refill a few hundred positions, Nextgov/FCW reported. In October it issued a strategy focused on the infrastructure whose disruption would do the most harm, which The Primary Wire reported at the time.
What to Watch
Republicans control the Senate until January, and the lame-duck session that began Monday is crowded with funding and defense bills. Plankey's nomination went before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which held his hearing in July 2025, according to CyberScoop. If LoSapio is not confirmed before this Congress ends, Trump would have to renominate him to the incoming Democratic majority, Nextgov/FCW reported, which could bring more scrutiny of his Palantir work.
Wyden has said he plans to renew inquiries into Palantir's work with the administration when he chairs the Senate Finance Committee, according to Nextgov/FCW. Democrats have questioned whether Palantir's work for the Department of Homeland Security enables surveillance of Americans, which the company denies. House Democrats have also pledged to investigate CISA's staff cuts and changes to its election security work.
