After agency lost a third of staff, Trump taps Palantir security chief for battered US cyber defense agency

A nomination after a long vacancy

Trump announced LoSapio’s nomination on Monday. CISA has been without a Senate-confirmed director since Jen Easterly left in January 2025, and Nick Andersen has served as acting director since February.

The agency he would inherit

CISA has lost more than 1,000 employees, or about a third of its workforce, since Trump returned to the White House, according to reports. The agency is trying to fill vacancies, but Andersen said in September that about 250 prospective hires were still awaiting security clearances.

A strategy released last month prioritizes infrastructure where failure could cause the greatest damage. With fewer staff available, that focus raises questions about which other work may receive less attention.

Palantir work may draw scrutiny

LoSapio has been Palantir’s chief information security officer since September 2024, after leading its infrastructure and network security team. He joined the data analytics company in 2013, worked for database company SingleStore, then returned to Palantir in 2017.

Questions remain for confirmation

CISA has spent nearly two years without a permanent director while losing about a third of its workforce. A drawn-out confirmation process could extend that period.