According to multiple current and former U.S. cybersecurity officials, at least six career staffers at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) were suspended with pay this summer after organizing a polygraph test that the agency’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, failed.
The Department of Homeland Security subsequently initiated an investigation into whether the staff provided “false information” about the need for the polygraph examination, which was scheduled following Gottumukkala’s request to access highly sensitive cyber intelligence shared with CISA by another U.S. intelligence agency.
The report is based on interviews with eight current and four former U.S. cybersecurity officials, including multiple Trump administration appointees who either worked closely with Gottumukkala or had direct knowledge of the polygraph examination and its aftermath. All were granted anonymity due to fear of retaliation.
The incident, which has not previously been reported, riled career staff and alarmed fellow Trump administration appointees, raising serious concerns about Gottumukkala’s leadership of the nearly $3 billion cyber defense agency.
“Instead of taking ownership and saying, ‘Hey, I screwed up,’ he gets other people blamed and potentially ruins their careers,” said one current official, who described Gottumukkala’s tenure at CISA as “a nightmare.”
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stated that Gottumukkala “did not fail a sanctioned polygraph test.” She added that an unsanctioned polygraph examination was coordinated by staff and misleading incoming CISA leadership. The employees in question were placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
“We expect and require the highest standards of performance from our employees and hold them directly accountable to uphold all policies and procedures,” McLaughlin said. “Gottumukkala has the complete and full support of the Secretary and is laser focused on returning the agency to its statutory mission.”
When asked what constitutes an “unsanctioned” polygraph, McLaughlin emphasized that examinations must be ordered by leadership with proper authority. She noted, “Random bureaucrats can’t just order a polygraph.”
The suspensions occurred during a turbulent period for CISA, which has faced sweeping personnel and budget cuts under President Donald Trump. Nearly one-third of the agency’s staff have left since January, and some employees were recently given an ultimatum to either take immigration-related roles within DHS or leave the agency.
CISA also lacks a permanent, Senate-confirmed leader since former Director Jen Easterly resigned in January. Gottumukkala, a former senior IT official in South Dakota under Kristi Noem, was appointed deputy director in May after she became DHS secretary and currently serves as acting director of CISA.
