At a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing considering five presidential nominees, Sean Cairncross, nominated to be director of the Office of the National Cyber Director, told senators he would prioritize interagency coordination and work with Congress on expiring cybersecurity authorities.

Cairncross said securing federal networks after the discovery of a previously unknown vulnerability — a so‑called 0‑day — would require immediate cross‑government action. “I think it would be vital to work with the inter agency, with the NSC, with CISA to determine what the impact was, what the vulnerability is, how quickly it can be remediated and patched,” Cairncross said.

The nomination hearing centered on whether existing authorities and funding are sufficient as cyber threats “are increasing,” Cairncross said, and as recent incidents known in public reporting as Volt and Salt (referred to in the hearing as “Veil and SALT”/“Salt Typhoon”) show adversaries embedding within U.S. infrastructure. Senator Margaret Hassan pressed Cairncross to commit to reauthorizing the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015; Cairncross replied, “I do, Senator. Yes.”

Senators repeatedly raised funding and staffing concerns. Senator Elissa Slotkin said the administration’s budget proposes a roughly $495,000,000 cut to cybersecurity programs and asked how that squares with escalating threats to K‑12 schools, hospitals and utilities. Cairncross acknowledged the threats are scaling and described his management principle that “form follows function” — he said he would align staffing and budget to mission needs if confirmed.

The hearing also covered the expiring State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. Senator Hassan told Cairncross she would work with him to reauthorize the program; Cairncross said he “look[ed] forward to working with you on that issue,” noting many state and local governments lack budgets and personnel to protect critical systems.

Senator Haley Slotkin highlighted rural hospitals as an overlooked vulnerability and cited bipartisan legislation to develop a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy for rural hospitals. Cairncross said he would “get my feet on the ground, working with you, working with all your offices in your states to ensure that I'm hearing and understand what those needs are.”

Several senators tied discussion of the cyber office to broader questions about the role of private sector partners in defense and about CISA’s scope. Cairncross said the office should “lead cyber policy coordination across the federal government” and work with OMB to align budgets to that policy.

Chairman Paul closed the hearing by noting nominees had submitted written statements and ethics reviews and by placing the record in the hearing file.

The committee record remains open for additional submissions and questions from members.