“Under a Musk and Trump presidency, it’s clear that the security of Americans’ information is not a priority,” Rep. Delia Ramirez told a House committee in early 2025, laying down a confrontational line she will now carry as the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security panel’s cybersecurity subcommittee.
Rep. Delia Ramirez assumes ranking member role
Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez has been confirmed by House committee Democrats to replace former Rep. Eric Swalwell as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection. Ramirez first won election to Congress in 2022 and was reelected in 2024. She had served as the vice ranking member of the committee since 2023. Swalwell left the position after his resignation from Congress as a representative from California amid allegations of sexual misconduct, creating the vacancy Ramirez now fills.
Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection — leadership and the coming hearing
Ramirez’s elevation completes a full leadership turnover for the subcommittee. On the Republican side, Rep. Andy Ogles, R‑Tenn., took over the gavel late last year after former chairman Andrew Garbarino, R‑N.Y., became chairman of the full committee. The subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and its role as the sector risk management agency for multiple critical infrastructure sectors — a natural proving ground for the priorities Ramirez has voiced.
Ramirez’s criticisms: CISA staffing, the “Department of Government Efficiency,” and private actors
Ramirez has been outspoken in committee settings about personnel cutbacks at CISA under the prior administration and about how data was handled under a Department of Government Efficiency initiative the source material identifies as being led by Elon Musk. At an early 2025 hearing she said, “I mean, a private civilian with no security clearance bullied his way into the Treasury, set up private servers, and stole sensitive information from an agency. If that isn’t a national security crisis, a cybersecurity crisis –then I don’t know what is.” She went on to state, “The true threat to our homeland security is ‘fElon’ Musk, Trump, and their blatant misuse of power to steal information and coerce employees to leave agencies.”
Elections focus and the “shadow hearing” where the change was approved
The committee Democrats approved Ramirez’s elevation at a meeting held prior to a so‑called “shadow hearing” conducted without the GOP majority; that session was focused on protecting elections from Trump administration interference, according to the record. The context of that meeting underscores how cyber and infrastructure oversight has become entwined with election‑security concerns in committee Democrats’ agenda.
What this means for CISA, technologists and security teams, and Congress
- CISA: The agency faces heightened scrutiny at the subcommittee level. The scheduled hearing on CISA’s role as the sector risk management agency provides a near‑term venue where Ramirez’s earlier critiques about staffing and data handling practices are likely to resurface.
- Technologists and security teams: Ramirez cosponsored legislation last year aimed at strengthening the cybersecurity workforce by promoting measures to help workers from underrepresented and disadvantaged communities join the field. Teams and hiring managers tracking workforce and diversity initiatives will be watching whether congressional attention translates into new programs or oversight questions about vendor and vendor‑related incident responses; Ramirez has also criticized Microsoft’s role in the SolarWinds breach, signaling interest in vendor accountability during oversight.
- Congress and committee dynamics: The change completes a full turnover of subcommittee leadership and follows a sequence of shifts atop the Homeland Security Committee. That reconfiguration — and the fact that Democrats met outside the GOP majority to approve the change before a “shadow hearing” — suggests partisan fracture lines will shape how oversight of CISA and election‑related cyber issues is conducted in coming months.
A spokesperson for Ramirez did not immediately respond to a request for comment about her new role. With a hearing on CISA imminent and Ramirez’s prior testimony on staffing, private‑sector handling of government data, and workforce development already on the record, the subcommittee’s next public session will be the first clear test of how she intends to press those lines of inquiry.
