Kristi Noem’s spy chief failed a polygraph test, turned on his staffers, and some fear their careers may be over.
Madhu Gottumukkala, the acting head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, reportedly failed a lie detector test in July that was required to gain access to “the most sensitive intelligence programs” shared by a spy agency. The exam is typically used to flag foreign ties or personal vulnerabilities that could put classified information at risk. After Gottumukkala failed the test, he allegedly turned his anger toward his staff and at least six staffers involved in organizing and scheduling the polygraph have been put on leave.
According to reporting by Politico, it has shaken the CISA, which is a roughly $3 billion agency tasked with defending the country’s critical infrastructure from cyber threats. It covers everything from federal networks to election systems to the private sector partnerships that get pulled into major attacks.
According to the account described by officials, Gottumukkala insisted on taking the polygraph even though he was not required to view the classified materials at issue and was not serving as the Senate-confirmed director of the agency. Trump’s nominee for that permanent job, Sean Plankey, is still awaiting Senate confirmation, leaving CISA led by an acting chief who, by multiple accounts, was determined to secure access he did not technically need.
I was chasing this story but @johnnysaks130 beat me to it: @CISAgov has retaliated against career employees after the agency’s acting director failed a polygraph test. Another embarrassing crisis at the struggling agency. https://t.co/S8Dc4IapRj pic.twitter.com/WBF25nner8
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) December 22, 2025
Rather than accepting the result, Gottumukkala allegedly blamed staff and launched what some inside the agency viewed as a retaliation campaign. At least six employees tied to the scheduling and coordination of the polygraph were placed on administrative leave, according to the report. According to officials, the staff somehow misled him into thinking the test was necessary, even though he was the one pushing to take it.
One current staffer decribed atmosphere inside CISA under Gottumukkala’s leadership. “Instead of taking ownership and saying, ‘Hey, I screwed up,’ he gets other people blamed and potentially ruins their careers,” the official told Politico. The same official added that Gottumukkala’s tenure has been “a nightmare” for the agency.
Polygraphs are meant to protect the government from risks that cannot be seen on paper. Here, the alleged damage came after the results were known, through suspensions and finger-pointing inside a mission-focused agency that depends on trust, morale, and steady leadership to function.
Gottumukkala’s path to Washington also ties directly back to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. He got his start under Noem when she was governor of South Dakota, working in the state’s IT apparatus before moving into the federal orbit. Now, under Noem’s department, he is running CISA in an acting capacity, and facing an escalating storm over how he handled a sensitive security process.
The agency has been pulled into partisan fights over its past work on misinformation and election security, and it has dealt with workforce strain as Washington debates its funding and mission.
Acting leaders are supposed to keep the machine running until the Senate confirms a permanent pick. This story suggests the opposite happened: an acting chief pushing for access, failing the gatekeeping test, then taking it out on the people who helped set it up.
It is unclear why Gottumukkala pressed so hard to take a polygraph he did not need, and whether the staff suspensions will stand.
