President-elect Trump Appoints Legislative Cyber Leaders to Transition Team

President-elect Donald Trump named a trio of congressional cyber leaders to his transition team, including House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA). The appointments could give some indication of a serious cyber focus for the incoming Trump Administration, whose cyber positions have been largely opaque.

Rep Nunes, who co-sponsored the House version of cyber information sharing legislation that became law in 2016, has been floated as a possible successor to James Clapper as director of national intelligence. Rep Nunes has led the intelligence committee since the beginning of the current Congress. He will serve on the transition team’s executive committee. Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) will serve as a vice chair of the transition team. Rep Blackburn is vice chairwoman of the House Commerce Committee and co-sponsor of a bill that would create a national standard securing customer data and a standard benchmark for when companies must notify customers about a breach. Also on the executive committee is Rep Tom Marino (R-PA) who serves on the House Homeland Security Committee panel with responsibility for cybersecurity.