Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, recently released a statement addressing her resignation from President Donald Trump’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council.
Earlier this month, eight members of the council resigned citing several reasons including Trump’s inattention to cybersecurity threats, his response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the United States withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. These actions threaten homeland security, the resignation letters said.
“For months, I have repeatedly raised concerns about President Trump’s lack of action with respect to preventing catastrophic cyberattacks against our country and I have received zero response from the president,” Cantwell said. “He has actively proposed slashing the budget of the very program tasked with protecting our energy infrastructure from cyberattack. Now several members of his own National Infrastructure Advisory Group have resigned in protest of this inexcusable negligence. Hopefully, this will be the wakeup call this administration needs to do their jobs and protect our country.”
Cantwell informed Trump twice of cybersecurity threats.
In March, she and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) sent a letter to Trump asking him to respond to cyber threats and investigate Russian attacks on infrastructure.
A follow-up letter was sent in June.