Cybersecurity Policy Report, CISA Fired 45 Stakeholder Engagement Personnel Since Shutdown, Court Told, (Nov 6, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:AFL-CIO | American Federation of Government Employees
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency laid off 54 employees in its stakeholder engagement division on Oct. 11, but the “reductions in force” (RIFs) did not run afoul of a federal court order, CISA told the court.
The RIFs were disclosed in a declaration filed in a lawsuit challenging the White House Office of Management and Budget’s plan to fire federal workers who were furloughed at the start of the ongoing government shutdown on Oct. 1.
At the request of eight labor unions, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction to block some of the planned RIFs (American Federation of Government Employees, AFL CIO, et al., v. United States Office of Management and Budget, et al., No. 25-cv-08302 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 30, 2025)).
But the layoffs in CISA’s stakeholder engagement division don’t violate the court’s injunction because the fired personnel were not represented by the unions that brought the lawsuit, according to the declaration signed by Madhu Gottumukkala, CISA’s acting director.
The court eventually will decide whether the CISA layoffs complied with the injunction. CISA is required to “file a declaration detailing the steps it has taken to comply with this Court’s injunction” by Nov. 12, Mr. Gottumukkala noted.
The stakeholder engagement division, which had 178 personnel in August 2024, “leads CISA’s national and international voluntary partnerships and engagements while serving as the agency’s hub for the shared stakeholder information that unifies CISA’s approach to whole-of-nation operational collaboration and information sharing,” according to CISA’s description.
Congressional Democrats have complained about CISA’s layoffs, which they claim weaken U.S. cyber defenses, and about the Department of Homeland Security’s disregard of their requests for information (CPR, Oct. 21).
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