The fate of the State Department’s cyber diplomacy office remains in limbo, despite plans announced in August by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to merge the office with the organization’s economics bureau as part of a department-wide reorganization.
Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan faced questions during a House Foreign Intelligence Committee Monday hearing from lawmakers concerned about the department’s plan to downgrade the office in charge of promoting U.S. cyber policy abroad.
When Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) pressed Sullivan on the plan to merge the Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues with the State Department’s Bureau of Economic & Business Affairs, the deputy secretary said no final decision was made on the fate of the office.
“The final decision about where and what level we’ll place the cyber security responsibility hasn’t been decided. The initial decision that was made was for this special envoy office which exists; we have moved that into that bureau. But that’s only the first step in addressing the larger cyber issue that the department needs to … and we will consult with this committee on where the appropriate level is and what bureau it’s in before that decision’s made,” Sullivan said.
Tillerson detailed his reorganization plan in an August letter to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), which included shutting down the cyber diplomacy office and shifting its remaining employees and responsibilities to the economics bureau (Defense Daily, Aug. 29).
“At a time when the U.S. is increasingly under attack online shouldn’t the State Department continue to have high-level leadership focused on the whole range of cyber issues not relegated to economics,” Wilson said during the hearing. “We are pleased to learn that the department’s cyberspace functions will continue to focus on a full-range of activities beyond just economic issues. Doesn’t that call into question your plans to house the office within the Economic and Business Affairs Bureau?”
Sullivan claimed the move to the economics bureau was only a first step and not the final fate for the cyber diplomacy office, and the State Department plans to work with the White House to continue the elevation of cyber to a higher level.
“I can commit to you our whole cyber effort will be elevated at the department beyond the level it is now,” said Sullivan.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) cautioned Sullivan against following a path that could lessen his department’s role in implementing future policy related to cyber warfare and strengthening cyber diplomacy efforts.
“I think the State Department is going to be more and more involved in this area. As I see the espionage coming out of foreign adversary nation-states, cyber warfare, and I think right now there are no rules of the road. There are really no treaties or other things agreed to by nation-states. Would NATO apply in the event of a cyber attack?” McCaul said. “So there are a lot of questions raised about cyber that the State Department, in my view as cyber becomes a bigger and bigger issue, the State Department’s going to have quite a role in this arena. I know there’s an office of cyber coordination for cyber issues that’s being sort of downplayed with another office.”
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill earlier in September that would block the State Department from using appropriated funds to eliminate its cyber office (Defense Daily, Sept. 8).