Press releases
Nearly 20 national security experts call for “Congress to act urgently” to protect cyber defenses in new letter
Media Contact
Cory Combs
Director of Media Relations
Today, in response to a growing number of actions taken by the Trump administration that have weakened our national security and cyber defenses, Issue One has shared a letter — signed by nearly 20 national security experts, including former Secretaries of Defense Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta, former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Bill Owens, and 16 former members of Congress — calling on Congress to act urgently to protect and rebuild our national defenses.
Issue One’s Vice President of Advocacy Alix Fraser provided the following statement:
“The administration is engaging in one-sided disarmament and inviting foreign adversaries to exploit dangerous vulnerabilities in our national security. This has been exemplified by its flippant handling of sensitive and classified intelligence as we saw in the Signalgate scandal and the administration’s cuts to the federal agencies and programs that defend the United States from increasingly sophisticated national security threats. These actions are creating huge, unnecessary risks to the security of every American citizen. Members of Congress must take action to reclaim their constitutional authority over spending and compel the administration to restore the defenses we so desperately need. Unless we change course, the grave danger to Americans and our democracy will only continue to grow.”
The letter also underscores how:
- Foreign adversaries have systematically expanded their cyberwarfare capabilities with the explicit aim of undermining American democracy over the last decade;
- President Trump had previously worked with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to strengthen our nation’s digital defense capabilities during his first administration;
- Substantial staffing reductions at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the disbanding of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, the decision to weaken Foreign Agents Relations Act (FARA) enforcement, and the decision to suspend offensive cyber operations against Russia during the second Trump administration have created dangerous vulnerabilities in our security posture.