NIST officials detail impact of staff cuts on encryption and other priorities | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"The agency has shed more than 700 jobs since 2025, including 89 at a lab responsible for testing and validating the government\u2019s encryption.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/encryption-nist-officials-detail-staff-cuts-impact\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NIST officials detail impact of staff cuts on encryption and other priorities\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The agency has shed more than 700 jobs since 2025, including 89 at a lab responsible for testing and validating the government\u2019s encryption.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/encryption-nist-officials-detail-staff-cuts-impact\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta 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class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.363636363636\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"34.720379146919\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/encryption-nist-officials-detail-staff-cuts-impact\/\"> <span>Government<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> The agency has shed more than 700 jobs since 2025, including 89 at a lab responsible for testing and validating the government\u2019s encryption. <\/p>\n<p>  <br \/>\n<audio id=\"audio-player\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-tts-cdn.api.scpnewsgrp.com\/cyberscoop\/87507\/english.openai.mp3\"><\/audio> <\/p>\n<div readability=\"11\">\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p>0:00<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p> <span id=\"tts-tooltip\">Learn more.<\/span> <span> This feature uses an automated voice, which may result in occasional errors in pronunciation, tone, or sentiment. <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"600\" height=\"341\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nist-officials-detail-impact-of-staff-cuts-on-encryption-and-other-priorities.jpg?resize=600%2C341&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nist-officials-detail-impact-of-staff-cuts-on-encryption-and-other-priorities-2.jpg 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nist-officials-detail-impact-of-staff-cuts-on-encryption-and-other-priorities-2.jpg?resize=300,171 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nist-officials-detail-impact-of-staff-cuts-on-encryption-and-other-priorities-2.jpg?resize=296,168 296w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nist-officials-detail-impact-of-staff-cuts-on-encryption-and-other-priorities-2.jpg?resize=593,337 593w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"><figcaption> (NIST) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"53.438520558725\"><body readability=\"108.18117543084\"><\/p>\n<p>The National Institute for Standards and Technology is starting 2026 with a smaller staff, a shrinking budget and some big responsibilities around supporting national security and cybersecurity.<\/p>\n<p>At a meeting Wednesday of the Information Security Privacy Advisory Board, NIST officials provided updates on how they\u2019re grappling with several Trump administration priorities, including mandates on AI, cybersecurity and post-quantum encryption.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Stine, Director of the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at NIST, said the agency has shed more than 700 positions since Trump assumed office last year through personnel initiatives like resignations, and voluntary deferments. His office, which focuses on IT measurements, testing, and standards, has a headcount of 289 and lost about 89 employees over the last year.<\/p>\n<p>More constraints are on the way, as the latest \u201cminibus\u201d spending package from Congress would cut $13 million from NIST\u2019s labs program, something Stine called \u201crelatively good numbers\u201d compared to other <a href=\"https:\/\/cra.org\/govaffairs\/blog\/2026\/01\/fy26-cjs-ew-minibus\/\">budget proposals<\/a> he\u2019d seen.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>While Stine did not stump for more money or staff, he said the constraints have caused the office to reshuffle remaining resources on a narrower set of priorities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s forcing a very focused discussion on prioritization of our activities,\u201d said Stine. \u201cCertainly critical emerging technologies and anything aligned with the new NIST strategy, as well as administration priorities, are going to be top of the list and we will adequately resource those.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NIST\u2019s technical work testing and validating encryption for the federal government is also dealing with impacts from the staffing reductions.<\/p>\n<p>Part of ITL\u2019s mission involves jointly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyber.gc.ca\/en\/tools-services\/cryptographic-module-validation-program-cmvp\">working<\/a> with the Canadian Centre for Cybersecurity to validate the cryptography of commercial IT hardware and software purchased by their governments.<\/p>\n<p>David Hawes, program manager for the program at NIST\u2019s computer security division, called this process \u201cassociatingly complex\u201d because of how many different implementations and technologies testers must account for when validating encryption, but said in essence it was about establishing a baseline level of trust between vendors and the federal agencies buying their products.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe way that we think of what our office does is: we\u2019ve got a standard, we\u2019ve got testing, we validate it,\u201d said Hawes. \u201cCan\u2026federal government purchasers and users of these products, can they trust the cryptography? That\u2019s what this is all about. Does it meet the standard? Can it be trusted with the information that\u2019s there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Until recently, \u201ca lot of the trust\u201d in NIST\u2019s validation process came from back-end human-led reviews after labs tested products. This approach \u201cheavily required manpower\u201d to sift through hundreds of pages of technical documents, certifications, non machine-searchable PDF files and other unstructured data. Hawes said in years past, this work was typically assigned to junior NIST staffers.<\/p>\n<p>A review of the past 30 cryptographic validations performed by NIST found that it took an average of 348 days to complete each project. However, Hawes said the agency has reduced its backlog from nearly two years in 2020 to about six months today.<\/p>\n<p>The ultimate goal is to reduce the validation process to \u201cdays.\u201d Some of that work can be picked up through automation and other streamlined workflows, but Hawes suggested that could be difficult under current staffing numbers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would say [our progress to date] was in spite of the loss,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019d be a lot better off in terms of the queue lane now had we not lost the people recently that we did.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The federal government <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cloudflare-ibm-quantum-security-cryptography-migration\/\">is shifting<\/a> its IT from older, classical encryption to newer \u201cquantum-resistant\u201d algorithms meant to protect federal systems and devices from cyberattacks enabled by a quantum computer in the future. As agencies work to identify and replace encryption protecting their most sensitive assets, they also face a deadline: older encryption applications, like RSA, are set to be formally deprecated by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>Hawes said NIST is preparing to support that effort and tested its first post-quantum cryptographic module in recent weeks. However, solving the backlog, he suggested, was the fastest way to provide that help.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would say collectively our approach is\u2026getting post-quantum modules validated sooner,\u201d said Hawes. \u201cSo get the queue down, get them in, get them through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"3.5323741007194\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"13\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nist-officials-detail-impact-of-staff-cuts-on-encryption-and-other-priorities-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Derek B. Johnson\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Derek B. Johnson<\/h4>\n<p> Derek B. Johnson is a reporter at CyberScoop, where his beat includes cybersecurity, elections and the federal government. Prior to that, he has provided award-winning coverage of cybersecurity news across the public and private sectors for various publications since 2017. Derek has a bachelor\u2019s degree in print journalism from Hofstra University in New York and a master\u2019s degree in public policy from George Mason University in Virginia. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> 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{"id":8280,"date":"2026-01-21T19:14:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T01:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=87507"},"modified":"2026-01-21T19:14:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T01:14:29","slug":"nist-officials-detail-impact-of-staff-cuts-on-encryption-and-other-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/21\/nist-officials-detail-impact-of-staff-cuts-on-encryption-and-other-priorities\/","title":{"rendered":"NIST officials detail impact of staff cuts on encryption and other priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"