Secretary of State warns CISA review could disrupt federal election-security services

Steve Simon, Minnesota secretary of state, told the Senate Elections Committee on Feb. 27 that a Department of Homeland Security review of election-related services at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and a recent termination of the EI‑ISAC contract with the Center for Internet Security, could reduce federal supports Minnesota relies on to protect elections.

Simon, who testified first at the committee’s hearing, said the services in question include cybersecurity monitoring and response, physical-security assessments for county and local election offices, device-level protections such as endpoint detection and response (EDR), and an elections-focused information‑sharing operation known as the EI‑ISAC. “We don’t know what comes next,” Simon said. “They have terminated that contract and they are conducting a review. We will know a lot more after March 6.”

Why it matters: Minnesota election officials and counties use the federal services Simon described for threat intelligence, incident response and voluntary security assessments. If those services are reduced or withdrawn, Minnesota officials told the committee, counties may face higher costs for private consultants and could lose access to classified…