Noem refused to fire 'asleep at the wheel' ally fearing it would make her look bad
Madhu Gottumukkala, a close ally of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem who followed her from South Dakota to Washington, was reassigned this week following his tumultuous tenure at a critical cybersecurity agency.
According to Politico, Gottumukkala, the former acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), has been moved to a new position as DHS's director of strategic implementation. The reassignment allowed Noem to avoid the political fallout of firing him over widespread complaints that he was unsuited for the role.
Gottumukkala had served as South Dakota's chief information officer under then-Governor Noem for 10 months before she brought him to the federal level. His tenure at CISA quickly deteriorated, with staff members questioning his competence within weeks of his arrival.
According to the report, Gottumukkala alienated career staff and fellow Trump appointees by aggressively cutting major agency contracts with little consideration for their importance to CISA's cybersecurity mission or without properly notifying staff so they could develop alternatives. One insider stated: "I don't think people realized how ill-served we, the American public, were by having someone that was this unserious, just asleep at the wheel in an agency leadership position like this."
The dysfunction extended to personnel matters. One staffer was suspended by Gottumukkala for making a obscene gesture toward his Tesla Cybertruck in the parking lot.
Noem delayed removing Gottumukkala despite mounting pressure because she feared the move would damage her reputation at a time when her performance was already under intense scrutiny. According to multiple insiders, Noem and DHS special adviser Corey Lewandowski—President Trump's former campaign manager—worried that the reassignment "would reflect poorly on her, as she was already facing immense pressure over DHS's immigration crackdown and other issues."
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