Sean Cairncross confirmed as new national cyber director

The Trump administration has its first national cyber director after the Senate confirmed Sean Cairncross tonight 59-35.

Cairncross, former CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation and former COO at the Republican National Committee, was nominated by Trump in February to the executive branch role that has been vacant since former National Cyber Director Harry Coker left at the end of the Biden administration.

“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 released by the White House. “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.”

At his June confirmation hearing, Cairncross told senators that attacks against the United States are “scaling up” and increasing in sophistication, underscoring the need for enhanced security collaboration between the government and the private sector as well as impactful costs for bad actors.

“This is a complicated vector but at its core this is a human nature issue,” Sean Cairncross told senators. “Our enemies do not see a cost in engaging in this behavior. And so they impose strategic dilemmas on us, and they have now for a long period of time. It’s time that we impose those dilemmas on them.”

As lawmakers were largely preoccupied with passing behemoth budget legislation in the run-up to the July Fourth holiday weekend, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced Cairncross’ nomination 11-4 on June 30.

That bipartisan support was echoed in the floor vote. McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security Director Frank Cilluffo called this backing from both parties “encouraging and essential — a clear sign that cybersecurity remains a top national security priority.”

“The mission of the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) has never been more critical: advancing a unified, strategic and forward-leaning approach to the cyber threats facing our increasingly digital society,” Cilluffo said.