Government

Gottumukkala outAndersen in as acting CISA director

The move follows a story about criticisms of CISA’s performance during the first year of the Trump administrationwith Madhu Gottumukkala’s leadership a point of contention.

By Tim Starks

February 262026

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Madhu Gottumukkalaacting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agencytestifies during the DHS oversight hearing in the Cannon House office building on Jan. 212026. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Madhu Gottumukkala is out as acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agencywith current agency executive director for cybersecurity Nick Andersen replacing him as the interim leader.

News of Gottumukkala’s departure breaks one day after CyberScoop reported on widespread dismay with the agency’s performance during the first year of the Trump administrationwith significant criticism aimed at Gottumukkala’s leadership on both sides of the aisle after a number of unflattering stories about his stewardship.

“Madhu Gottumukkala has done a remarkable job in a thankless task of helping reform CISA back to its core statutory mission,” a Department of Homeland Security official told CyberScoop Thursday. “He tackled the wokeweaponizedand bloated bureaucracy that existed at CISAwrangling contracts to save American taxpayer dollars.”

Gottumukkalaserved as chief information officer under then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noemnow secretary of DHSbefore he was picked as deputy director of the agency. Sean Plankey’s nomination to serve as full-time director of CISA has stalledleaving Gottumukkala as the acting director in his place.

Gottumukkala will take on a new role at DHSas director of strategic implementation. Andersen has won more favorable reviews from industry and cyber professionals during his tenure at CISA than did Gottumukkalawhom some still praised for his technical acumen.

ABC News first reported the news on the Gottumukkala and Andersen moves. The news comes the same day as reports about another leadership change at the agencywith Cybersecurity Dive first reporting on the exit of Robert Costello as CISA CIO.

While some officials CyberScoop spoke to for its story about CISA this week believed the agency had some duplicationmost thought the Trump administration had cut far deeper than neededdamaging the agency.

Andersen has held several IT and cybersecurity roles in the public sector over the past two decadesincluding positions at the Coast GuardNavy and Department of Energy.