CISA has gone nearly two years without a confirmed leader. The last nominee got stuck behind a hold from Florida's Rick Scott. The new one comes from the company Democrats say helps DHS watch Americans.
By Joseph J. Jackson | NATIONAL (Nov. 10, 2026)
The short version
What happened: The White House on Monday, Nov. 9, nominated Michael LoSapio, Palantir's chief information security officer, to direct the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
What CISA does: It defends federal civilian networks and the country's critical infrastructure (power, water, election systems, hospitals) from hackers and foreign spies.
Why now: The agency has had no Senate-confirmed director since January 2025 and has lost about a third of its workforce.
The Florida angle: The last nominee, Sean Plankey, waited 13 months and withdrew in April, largely because Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) held his nomination over a Coast Guard contract with a Panama City shipyard.
What's next: LoSapio needs Senate confirmation. Expect hard questions about Palantir's work for DHS.
The latest
President Donald Trump has picked a Palantir executive to run the federal agency in charge of defending the country's computer networks.
The White House announced Monday that it nominated Michael LoSapio, Palantir Technologies' chief information security officer, to be director of CISA, the cyber agency inside the Department of Homeland Security, Reuters reported. He was one of several dozen nominations the White House sent out Monday, according to Cyber Daily.
If confirmed, LoSapio would replace acting director Nick Andersen.
Who is Michael LoSapio
LoSapio has been Palantir's top security officer since September 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile, as reported by Nextgov/FCW. Before that, he ran Palantir's infrastructure and network security group from 2017 to 2024, Cyber Daily reported.
He first joined Palantir as a systems engineer in 2013, left in 2016 for a little over a year at the database company SingleStore, then came back. Earlier in his career he worked as a Linux systems engineer at Stevens Institute of Technology, Seton Hall University and New York University.
On LinkedIn, LoSapio says he built Palantir's security team to hold off nation-state hackers patient enough to hide inside a network for months before striking.
Based on the career history reported so far, he has never held a government post. LoSapio did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters or Nextgov/FCW.
An agency running on empty
CISA has been without a Senate-confirmed leader for almost 22 months, since Biden-era director Jen Easterly left on Trump's Inauguration Day in January 2025. It has run on a string of acting directors since.
The agency's staffing has fallen by about a third since Trump took office in 2025, Reuters reported. In June, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told a House committee CISA needs around 2,800 people but had about 2,200, Nextgov/FCW reported. The agency has since moved to rehire a few hundred positions.
The pick also comes after three large breaches, at DHS, the FBI and the Pentagon, were disclosed in the last three months, according to Reuters.
The Florida hold that stalled the last nominee
Trump's first choice for the job, Sean Plankey, a former Coast Guard officer and cyber official in Trump's first term, waited more than a year for a Senate vote before withdrawing in April.
Several senators slowed him down. But the biggest obstacle was Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., CyberScoop reported. Scott's hold had nothing to do with cybersecurity. According to multiple sources cited by CyberScoop and Nextgov/FCW, it was about DHS partially canceling a Coast Guard cutter contract with Eastern Shipbuilding Group, a Panama City company. Plankey was working as a Coast Guard adviser while he waited.
Plankey quit that Coast Guard role in March to try to clear the hold, Nextgov/FCW reported. It didn't work. Scott's office did not respond to repeated requests for comment from reporters at the time.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also held Plankey's nomination until CISA released an unclassified telecom security report.
Why Palantir matters here
Palantir is a data-analytics and AI company with large federal contracts, including work for DHS. Democrats have questioned whether that work helps the government surveil Americans, Nextgov/FCW reported. Palantir has denied aiding mass surveillance of immigrants, CyberScoop reported.
That puts LoSapio's employer at the center of his confirmation fight, with Democrats set to take control of Congress in January. House Democrats have also pledged to investigate CISA's workforce cuts and changes to its election security work, according to Nextgov/FCW.
This isn't the first time the White House looked to Palantir for this job. In June, The Record reported that Palantir's chief technology officer, Shyam Sankar, was a leading candidate. A White House official said at the time that the report was "not accurate."
What to watch
Confirmation hearing: When the Senate Homeland Security Committee schedules it, and whether it happens before the new Congress is sworn in.
Palantir questions: How LoSapio answers on Palantir's DHS contracts and any conflict-of-interest plans, such as selling stock and stepping aside from Palantir matters.
Holds: Whether Scott, Wyden or anyone else puts a hold on this nomination.
Election security: What LoSapio says about restoring or keeping cuts to CISA's election security work ahead of 2028.
FMNN is seeking comment from Sen. Rick Scott's office, Palantir and DHS and will update this story as the nomination moves.
Sources
Nextgov/FCW, "Trump nominates Palantir security chief Michael LoSapio to lead CISA," Nov. 9, 2026
Cyber Daily, "White House nominates Palantir CISO Michael LoSapio to direct CISA"
Nextgov/FCW, "Trump's CISA nominee said he left Coast Guard to address GOP hold," March 2026
Nextgov/FCW, DHS and cyber industry push to confirm CISA nominee, Dec. 2025
The Record, "Trump considers Palantir exec to lead CISA," June 2026
gCaptain, Eastern Shipbuilding of Panama City wins Offshore Patrol Cutter contract
Image: FMNN graphic.