Trump taps Palantir security chief to run battered US cyber defense agency

Michael LoSapio could inherit a depleted workforce and a political headache or two, courtesy of his current employer

President Donald Trump has nominated Palantir security chief Michael LoSapio to lead CISA, putting an executive from the controversial government supplier in line to run America's civilian cyber defense agency.

The nomination, announced on Monday, could end CISA's nearly two-year wait for a Senate-confirmed director following Jen Easterly's departure in January 2025.

LoSapio has served as Palantir's CISO since September 2024, having previously led the company's infrastructure and network security team. He first joined the data analytics outfit in 2013, later spent a spell at database company SingleStore, and returned to Palantir in 2017.

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If confirmed, LoSapio would move from securing Palantir's systems to leading the federal government's main civilian cyber defense agency. CISA protects federal civilian networks and works with critical infrastructure operators, including power, water, and telecommunications providers.

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It's a substantial job, particularly given the state of the agency he would inherit.

CISA has shed more than 1,000 staff, roughly a third of its workforce, since Trump returned to the White House, according to reports. It's now trying to plug the gaps, although acting director Nick Andersen said in September that around 250 would-be recruits were still waiting for security clearance before they could get to work. Andersen has been running CISA since February.

With fewer people to go around, CISA is also rethinking where to spend its time. A strategy published last month emphasizes infrastructure whose failure would do the most damage, raising questions about what gets less attention as the agency operates with fewer staff.

LoSapio would be the second person Trump has put forward for the role. His previous pick, Sean Plankey, withdrew in April after spending more than a year awaiting confirmation, with his nomination becoming caught up in a dispute involving Republican Senator Rick Scott over Coast Guard contracting.

The nomination arrives late in the congressional calendar. If the Senate does not confirm LoSapio before the current Congress ends, Trump would have to nominate him again for consideration by the incoming Democratic-controlled Senate.

Palantir, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, has become a major supplier of technology to US government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Its work with immigration authorities has attracted criticism from civil liberties groups and Democratic lawmakers concerned about surveillance and the handling of sensitive personal information.

The controversy isn't confined to the US either. In the UK, WhatsApp messages obtained by campaign group Foxglove this week indicate that Palantir privately lobbied a health minister to consider extending its software into GP patient records, despite that data being expressly excluded from its £330 million NHS England contract for the Federated Data Platform.

That revelation follows news that NHS England wants greater oversight of Palantir's claims about the benefits of its software, amid questions over the evidence supporting its performance figures.

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Those controversies could make LoSapio's confirmation hearings particularly interesting, especially as Democrats prepare to scrutinize Palantir's government business more closely.

It's unclear whether LoSapio plans to leave Palantir or what would happen to any financial interests he holds in the company if confirmed. Those are questions likely to come up during a confirmation process that CISA, having spent nearly two years without a permanent boss while losing a third of its workforce, could probably do without dragging on any longer. ®