Head of US cybersecurity agency says she hopes it keeps up election work under Trump Boston 25 News [Video]

NEW YORK — (AP) — Jen Easterly, the outgoing head of the U.S. government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said Wednesday she hopes her agency is allowed to continue its election-related work under new leadership despite “contentiousness” around that part of its mission.

“I really, really hope that we can continue to support those state and local election officials,” she said during an event in Washington, D.C., with the nonprofit Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “I think they’ve benefited by the resources that we’ve brought. I think they would say that.”

CISA is responsible for protecting critical infrastructure, including the nation’s dams, banks and nuclear power plants. Voting systems were added after the 2016 election and Russia’s multipronged election-meddling effort.

With the transition to a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump, several Republican lawmakers and right-wing advocacy groups have advocated to have CISA shuttered, gutted or have its election responsibilities significantly reduced.

Among the …