{"id":236471,"date":"2026-06-24T09:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T13:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/24\/white-houses-state-infrastructure-cybersecurity-initiative-stalled\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T10:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T14:00:10","slug":"white-houses-state-infrastructure-cybersecurity-initiative-stalled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/24\/white-houses-state-infrastructure-cybersecurity-initiative-stalled\/","title":{"rendered":"White House\u2019s state infrastructure cybersecurity initiative stalled"},"content":{"rendered":"

White House\u2019s state infrastructure cybersecurity initiative stalled<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.cybersecuritydive.com\/news\/white-house-states-cybersecurity-pilot-programs-oncd\/823453\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-06-24 09:55:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.cybersecuritydive.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. <\/p>\n

Three months after the Trump administration announced a plan to help states fund cybersecurity defenses for their critical infrastructure, half of the states say they haven\u2019t heard anything from the White House about participating in the program.
\nNational Cyber Director Sean Cairncross said in early March that the federal government would launch a pilot program for states to accelerate the deployment of security technology at critical infrastructure facilities. He described the goal as \u201cfinding solutions at cost and an ability to scale that meet the moment and the threat,\u201d adding that the administration was already working with Texas on its water sector, and with South Dakota on its beef industry.<\/p>\n

With a significant enough infusion of federal dollars, the pilot program could transform how cash-strapped state and local governments work with the operators of power grids, hospitals, railways and other vital infrastructure to fend off malicious hackers intent on sowing chaos.
\nBut despite the program\u2019s promise, the Trump administration appears to have made little progress with it so far. At least 26 states and the District of Columbia are not involved in the program, and some of them were unaware that it even existed, according to a Cybersecurity Dive survey of state IT, cybersecurity and homeland-security agencies. In addition, the White House has said almost nothing about how the program will work, including what the federal government\u2019s role will be. The Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) did not respond to numerous requests for comment for this story.
\nThe lack of widespread engagement and detailed information raises questions about the Trump administration\u2019s commitment to an initiative that has received widespread praise for its recognition of the crippling cybersecurity challenge facing state and local governments.
\n\u201cUnlocking funds to states for critical infrastructure protection is one of the most high-impact levers the federal government has to address urgent national security threats like [Chinese government] pre-positioning on critical infrastructure and the growth in the use of advanced AI for cyber operations,\u201d said Michael Klein, the senior director for preparedness and response at the Institute for Security and Technology and a former senior cybersecurity adviser at the U.S. Department of Education.<\/p>\n

National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross\u2019s office is overseeing the pilot programs.
\nMcCrary Institute\/YouTube
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

White House could address problem it worsened
\nThe Trump administration\u2019s new initiative could be a welcome relief for state and local governments, which have become top hacking targets because of their sensitive data, critical services and susceptibility to intense public pressure. In addition, governments\u2019 reliance on third-party vendors creates serious supply-chain security risks that threat actors have repeatedly exploited. AI has only made things worse.<\/p>\n

At the same time, many local governments face severe financial strains that prevent them from investing in high-quality defenses. Roughly one-fifth of localities have no dedicated cybersecurity funding, according to the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), the security collaboration group for state and local governments, and 16% of states recently cut their cyber budgets, according to the National Association of State Chief Information Officers.
\nExperts say the federal government has exacerbated those problems. The Trump administration ended decades-long federal funding for the MS-ISAC, leading to an exodus of members and forcing the ISAC\u2019s parent company to cut staff. In addition, Congress has failed to appropriate new money for a state and local cybersecurity grant program. And even if lawmakers reconstitute that program, new rules created by the Trump administration prohibit grant recipients from spending the money on MS-ISAC memberships.
\n\u201cState and local governments were struggling before the recent cuts, and I\u2019m hearing from many that it’s gotten worse,\u201d said Jeff Greene, a former senior White House and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) cybersecurity official.
\nWith states scrounging for all the help they can get, the new White House program could significantly boost their fortunes, helping them protect vital and frequently targeted services such as schools, hospitals, 911 systems and courts.
\n\u201cThe government wants to ensure these essential, local utility operators have access to the exact same world-class cyber defenses as Fortune 500 companies,\u201d said Brian Harrell, a former assistant director for infrastructure security at CISA. \u201cSecurity should never be a luxury for the few.\u201d
\nSarah Powazek, the program director of public interest cybersecurity at the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity, urged program managers to focus on the most vulnerable communities and to measure the benefits of funded tools and services. She said a well-designed program could break an impasse that has prevented underfunded jurisdictions from taking advantage of the best technologies.
\n\u201cThe tools that exist right now are at a cost that many small organizations can\u2019t afford, and a complexity that they can\u2019t use,\u201d Powazek said. \u201cThat leaves a massive swath of small and medium-sized organizations \u2026 at the mercy of a confusing product marketplace that ultimately won\u2019t help them with the basics.\u201d<\/p>\n

“The lack of follow-up publicly and with the states suggests a lack of urgency or seriousness, or both.”<\/p>\n

Jeff Greene
\nFormer Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity at CISA and former Chief of Cyber Response and Policy at the National Security Council<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not heard of this program\u201d
\nEven as cyber threats to state and local governments proliferate, the White House\u2019s pilot program appears to be getting off to a slow start. None of the 26 states and Washington, D.C., that answered Cybersecurity Dive\u2019s questions said they were involved in the program, and many of them said they hadn\u2019t even heard of it.
\n\u201cMy office was not aware of this pilot program,\u201d said Amy Hess, the executive director of the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security. \u201cThank you for bringing it to our attention.\u201d
\nEleven states \u2014 Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Oregon \u2014 said they wanted to learn more about the program and might want to join it. \u201cWe are always interested in exploring new partnerships,\u201d said Jerred Edgar, Idaho\u2019s chief information security and operations officer.<\/p>\n

But only two of those states \u2014 Nevada and North Dakota \u2014 said the White House had engaged with them about the program. Nevada CIO Timothy Galluzi told Cybersecurity Dive he was eager to participate and had attended \u201cexploratory stakeholder meetings\u201d where ONCD officials \u201clistened to the needs, concerns, and input [of] state representatives.\u201d And North Dakota\u2019s chief information security officer is scheduling a meeting with ONCD officials to learn more about the initiative, spokesman Dain Sullivan said, including its \u201cscope, requirements and available resources.\u201d
\nThe White House\u2019s limited engagement with states about the program appears to have caused some tensions as well. Arizona\u2019s homeland-security agency contacted ONCD in mid-April after learning that Cairncross had held a call with a small number of states, said Ryan Murray, the agency\u2019s deputy director and the state\u2019s CISO. \u201cWe asked how to ensure the full participation of the state cyber community in future ONCD events, as it appeared many states were not invited to the Director\u2019s call,\u201d Murray said. \u201cDespite the outreach, [Arizona] has not received a reply from ONCD.\u201d
\nFour other states were noncommittal. Maine said it would consider participating if the White House reached out, Massachusetts said it has been discussing the program internally and New York and New Jersey said they wanted more information.
\nFive states \u2014 Alaska, Connecticut, Michigan, Vermont and Virginia \u2014 said they weren\u2019t interested in joining the program. Six states \u2014 Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Utah and Washington \u2014 and the District of Columbia confirmed that they were not participating but declined to say whether or not they were interested in doing so. One state, California, declined to say whether it was participating in the program. The other 23 states \u2014 including Texas and South Dakota, the two that Cairncross named as participants \u2014 did not respond to requests for comment.
\nGreene, now a principal at the consulting firm Civira Partners, said the results of Cybersecurity Dive\u2019s survey were disappointing.
\n\u201cI’m sympathetic to the difficulties of standing up a nationwide program,\u201d he said, \u201cbut the lack of follow-up publicly and with the states suggests a lack of urgency or seriousness, or both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Testing federal commitment and state innovation
\nThe stakes for the pilot program are high, given both the cyber threat environment and the political environment.
\nThe initiative will be a major test of the Trump administration\u2019s commitment to helping state and local governments grapple with cybersecurity threats. Most experts see that commitment as minimal, given the way the administration has slashed cybersecurity funding and personnel. \u201cThe trust is frayed,\u201d Greene said. \u201cThe state and local officials I\u2019ve talked to are wary about government motives in a way I\u2019ve never seen before.\u201d
\nBut state success stories stemming from the program could begin to change that story. \u201cFederal funds make a massive difference in a region\u2019s ability to defend itself from cyberattacks,\u201d Powazek said. \u201cI\u2019m hopeful that this pilot program signals a re-investment by ONCD in community cybersecurity and building close SLTT relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Security should never be a luxury for the few.”<\/p>\n

Brian Harrell
\nFormer Assistant Director for Infrastructure Security at CISA<\/p>\n

Galluzi, the lone state official to report participating in ONCD\u2019s meetings, said the White House genuinely seemed to care about states\u2019 input. \u201cI am incredibly encouraged on the progress we are making,\u201d he said. \u201cIt looks like they are really trying to get this right and provide the support the states need.\u201d
\nIn the best-case scenario, states\u2019 solutions to cybersecurity challenges could bubble up to the national level, either becoming models for other states or transforming into federal programs that protect the entire country. \u201cA feature of our federalist system is that states can serve as laboratories for testing policies,\u201d said Suzanne Spaulding, a former top Department of Homeland Security cybersecurity official.
\nBut for that to happen, the White House will need to expand its outreach to the dozens of states that still haven\u2019t heard from it. Experts say the critical infrastructure that those governments maintain, and the residents who rely on it, can\u2019t afford to wait any longer.
\n\u201cGiven the urgency of the threat and the potential for wide-scale disruption to lifeline critical infrastructure like water, power and hospitals,\u201d Klein said, \u201cfederal investment to states focused on resilience \u2014\u00a0the ability to take a hit and continue operations \u2014 would have a powerful impact on communities across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

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