Trump picks Sean Cairncross for national cyber director – CyberScoop
President Donald Trump has selected Sean Cairncross — a former White House and Republican National Committee official and the former CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a federal foreign aid agency — to be his national cyber director.
Cairncross hasn’t held any major cyber-related positions, but during his time in the Trump White House as deputy assistant to the president and senior White House adviser to the chief of staff, he is said to have “provided counsel on a variety of issues, including matters related to national security.”
He also served as chief operating officer at the Republican National Committee when, in 2016, he said the RNC had not been hit by a cyberattack, contrary to the claims of a GOP congressman. And he’s served in some other tech-related roles outside of government.
If confirmed by the Senate, he would become just the third permanent leader of the Office of the National Cyber Director, replacing Harry Coker, who himself replaced acting director Kemba Walden. Chis Inglis first held the position after its creation four years ago.
Cairncross represents Trump’s first real opportunity to put his mark on the office, aside from last month’s repeal of an executive order establishing an order of succession.
Cairncross is the president and founder of the Cairncross Group, a Washington, D.C.-based strategic consultancy. He has worked at prominent law firms in addition to his roles at the White House, MCC, RNC and his own company.
When the RNC was changing leadership this past election cycle, Trump’s team brought him in to “watch the money,” according to Axios, where he again served as chief operating officer and notified staffers about the need to reapply for their jobs.
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