CISA employees told they are exempt from federal worker resignation program

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) employees were told Thursday that they are not eligible for the federal government-wide deferred resignation program, according to an email seen by Recorded Future News.

On Tuesday evening, the Office of Personnel Management sent two million government workers an email offering anyone who resigns by February 6 to retain their pay and benefits until the end of September.

The buyout offer is “available to all full-time federal employees except for military personnel of the armed forces, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, those in positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and those in any other positions specifically excluded by your employing agency,” according to the email.

A source familiar with the matter said CISA employees are exempt from the offer because they are considered national security staff.

The prohibition on CISA workers accepting the deferred resignation offer follows “guidance from DHS [Department of Homeland Security] management,” according to the email from CISA Executive Director Bridget Bean. 

Spokespersons for DHS and CISA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CISA is housed inside DHS. 

The decision to not include CISA employees in the deferred resignation offer comes on the heels of comments from newly-installed Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem who said at her confirmation hearing that CISA needs to be “much more effective, smaller, more nimble, to really fulfill their mission.” 

In November, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Politico he would like to “eliminate” CISA. Paul recently took over as chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over the agency.

Paul is unlikely to successfully cut CISA because many Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle value its mission. However, in recent years some have expressed concerns about how CISA functions and demanded reforms, particularly around how the agency handles misinformation.