The Senate Armed Services Committee is having a big leadership shakeup, including naming Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., to take over the gavel of the new Cybersecurity subpanel, which will oversee and legislate policies and programs relating to the Defense Department's cyber forces and capabilities.
Rounds said he hopes to clarify the Defense Department's role in responding to and deterring attacks on civilian critical infrastructure, a topic he filed legislation on last year.
"As recent events have shown, the U.S. is not immune to a cyberattack from hostile foreign actors," Rounds said in a statement. "Even more alarming, our adversaries have determined that the reward outweighs the risk of launching a cyber-attack against our nation."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who SASC Chair John McCain, R-Ariz., initially named to lead Cybersecurity, was not named to chair and SASC subpanels. He is handing the Military Personnel gavel to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.
