“The proliferation of political appointees across government focused on cybersecurity is both a signal of the threat and a recognition of the level of attention the topic needs. There are three political appointees at the White House alone. Anne Neuberger is the deputy assistant to the President and deputy national security advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology on the National Security Council. Chris Inglis is the national cyber director. And finally Chris DeRusha is the federal chief information security officer in the Office of Management and Budget and last November took on an additional role as the deputy national cyber director... The Commerce Department, the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Veterans Affairs and many others have similar cyber-focused leadership positions that require presidential appointments and some are Senate confirmed too. The one missing from this list is the Energy Department’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response (CESER). The Senate is required to confirm the assistant secretary who typically runs the office. But the Biden administration and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm have decided not to make the position a political appointee, raising concerns across the spectrum from Capitol Hill to industry executives to former CESER officials... Jeremiah Baumann, the deputy chief of staff of the Office of the Under Secretary for Infrastructure, where CESER resides, said in an interview with Federal News Network that having a career official and not politicizing the office will make it more effective...” Read the full article here. Source: Is Energy’s decision not to name a political appointee to oversee cyber a mistake? – By Jason Miller, May 16, 2022. Federal News Network.