WASHINGTON– The Senate has confirmed Sean Cairncross to serve as national cyber director, making him the first Senate-approved cybersecurity official of President Donald Trump’s second term.
Cairncross was formerly an official with the Republican National Committee and also CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corp. during Trump’s first term. The national cyber director position was created by the Biden administration and is charged with managing the White House’s cyber policy across multiple agencies and Capitol Hill.
‘Incredible Honor’
“I want to thank President Trump for this opportunity. It is an incredible honor to serve our country and this President as the National Cyber Director,” Cairncross said in a statement. “As the cyber strategic environment continues to evolve, we must ensure our policy efforts and capabilities deliver results for our national security and the American people. The United States must dominate the cyber domain through strong collaboration across departments and agencies, as well as private industry. Under President Trump’s leadership, we will enter a new era of effective cybersecurity policy.”
No Experience
Cairncross does not have direct cybersecurity policy experience, a point that Democrats raised during his confirmation hearing.
“…It’s true. I don’t have a technical background in cyber,” he told committee Ranking Member Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) during that hearing. “But in my roles running private organizations and national party committees, I’ve been on the user side of this. We’ve had to deal with foreign nation attacks on our systems. We’ve worked with the FBI and the intelligence community to learn about them, to stop them and to monitor those attacks.”
‘Looking Forward to Positive Relationship’
“I think it’s incredibly important to make sure that we are continuing to engage in the environment relative to cyber policy and I think that we certainly look forward to having a positive relationship with the national cyber director,” said Carrie Hunt, chief advocacy officer with America’s Credit Unions.
Treasury Secretary Weighs In
Separately, during a recent Washington event Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered comments related to cyber security, an issue Hunt said remains crucial to credit unions.
“It’s been a little while since we’ve talked about a uniform data security standard; this is something that America’s Credit Unions has not forgotten,” said Hunt. “We’re still working on this and ensuring that…we’re all playing by the same rules relative to cybersecurity.”
Fighting cyber fraud, said Hunt, “continues to be the number-one operational issue that we hear from our members.”
