Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll ordered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to rescind its offer to Jen Easterly, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), to serve as the Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair in the Social Sciences department. The decision arrives just one day after Easterly’s appointment was announced.
The memo posted by Driscoll on X directed West Point to terminate the agreement with Easterly, pause outside groups from influencing academic hiring or lectures, and launch a top-down review of the academy’s hiring practices. The change reflects the administration’s effort to align military education with its priorities.
Easterly, a West Point graduate and Army veteran, previously served as CISA’s director under President Biden. Conservative critics accused her agency of censoring conservative viewpoints online during her tenure, particularly for combating election misinformation and COVID-19 disinformation. Some have labeled her removal as part of a broader cleansing of “Biden holdovers.”
Conservative activist Laura Loomer prominently criticized Easterly’s hiring on X, calling her a “Biden holdover” undermining the Trump administration. Loomer has claimed credit for influencing multiple personnel changes and has emerged as a vocal enforcer of ideological loyalty within Trump-aligned circles.
According to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, the decision reflects a strategic shift: “We’re not turning cadets into censorship activists. We’re turning them into warriors & leaders.” Officials emphasized that academic appointments must prepare cadets for wartime leadership—not ideological missions.
The reversal exposes growing political pressure within military education leadership amid the Trump administration. The rapid withdrawal of Easterly’s appointment signals tightened control over ideologically sensitive roles and academic influence at service academies.
