Rand Paul Wants to Abolish Trump-era Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is pushing to abolish the Trump-era Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as part of an effort to combat the federal government's power to censor online speech.

Speaking to Politico, Paul stated, "I'd like to eliminate it. The First Amendment is pretty important, that's why we listed it as the First Amendment, and I would have liked to, at the very least, eliminate their ability to censor content online."

He went on to say, "While it's unlikely we could get rid of CISA, we survived for what, 248 years without them," Paul said. "I think a lot of what they do is intrusive, and I’d like to end their intrusions into the First Amendment."

CISA was established under Trump, but it appears that its inception was one of the few mistakes that emerged from his first term in the White House.

The agency is also likely low on the priority list of issues that Trump's new Cabinet is likely to tackle.

Purging Federal Agencies

A priority for Trump's new administration will be purging federal agencies that no longer serve their purpose and are contributing to the "swamp" that is Washington D.C.

Paul's attacks on CISA have ignited blowback from the agency, which is vigorously defending itself from accusations that it was involved in censoring free speech online.

CISA senior advisor for public affairs Ron Eckstein defiantly stated, "CISA does not and has never censored speech or facilitated censorship. Such allegations are riddled with factual inaccuracies. Every day, the men and women of CISA execute the agency’s mission of reducing risk to U.S. critical infrastructure in a way that protects Americans’ freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy."

However, it's one thing to claim on Fox News that CISA is doing its job, but it's entirely another to explain that to the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, a position Paul will hold in the next session of Congress.

Paul will be assuming that role now that Republicans are taking control of the Senate in January, and Eckstein will have to make his case and bring the facts.

The senator is on a rampage against CISA because of the agency's efforts to "counter disinformation," about the 2020 presidential election. It is entirely inappropriate for a federal agency to police speech around such a controversial and divisive topic.

Destroying Censors

Disinformation is the left's word for speech that goes counter to their preferred narrative, which is why many conservative ideas and arguments are often labeled as such, and CISA may have played a role in that.

CISA was so involved in censoring allegations of voter fraud in 2020 that Trump himself stepped in and fired the agency's head.

While CISA may not be abolished entirely, it will likely be heavily reformed to gut any power that it has to censor free speech and interfere in election discourse.