White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Rob Joyce's failure to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday may have earned him a future subpoena.
"Mr. Joyce's absence here, whose job it is to do all this, is an example of the disarray in which this whole issue rests," said Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who said “that for eight years we've been trying to get a policy” and strategy for responding to cyber threats.
Others testifying indicated that establishing which government agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Defense Department, should have the authority to lead the charge against cyber threats is muddled at best, with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Defense Department
“When the coordinator doesn't show up for a hearing, that's not an encouraging sign,” McCain said to DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate Chris Krebs after Krebs contented it “would require both the executive branch and the Congress working together to continue understanding how we need to address this threat."
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., suggested that the committee issue a subpoena to compel Joyce to testify. McCain, who referred to the threats as cyberwarfare, said, "I think that has to be discussed in the committee."
