Canceled contracts, a failed polygraph and personal disputes: Inside the turbulent tenure of Noem’s former cyber czar

Madhu Gottumukkala with Kristi Noem in September 2024, when Gottumukkala was serving as Commissioner and Chief Information Officer for South Dakota's Bureau of Information and Technology. (Kristi Noem / Instagram)

By JOHN SAKELLARIADIS • Mar 02, 2026

The interim chief of the nation’s top cyber defense agency had convinced many people he was not up to the task long before his sudden reassignment late Thursday. But the one person who mattered most — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — stood firm on keeping him in place.

In his roughly nine months as acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Madhu Gottumukkala made a series of decisions that alienated career staff, created friction with Trump appointees and provoked scrutiny from influential lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Nine current and four former cyber officials who spoke with POLITICO over the last several weeks said his tenure was so chaotic that it was hampering the agency’s core mission: protecting sensitive government networks from a crush of cyberattacks. All were granted anonymity for fear of retribution.