McCain refocuses his Obama cyber criticisms onto Trump

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday that he is done waiting for President Trump to develop a cyber warfare policy. 

McCain, who routinely criticized the Obama administration for lacking a coherent cyber strategy, repeatedly chided the Trump administration during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing for not developing its own strategy. 

“We were hopeful that after years without any serious effort to develop a cyber deterrence policy and strategy from the last administration, the new administration promised one within 90 days of the inauguration,” McCain said. “But 90 days have come and gone, and no such policy and strategy has been provided.”  

President Trump announced before his inauguration that he would release a plan to combat the growing digital threat within his first 90 days in office.

“Whether it is our government, organizations, associations or businesses we need to aggressively combat and stop cyberattacks. I will appoint a team to give me a plan within 90 days of taking office,” Trump wrote in a statement on January 6. 

{mosads}Though Trump has announced a committee to discuss IT modernization, major policy announcements including a perennially delayed cybersecurity executive order have not come.  

McCain has said in the past he fears the U.S. lacks consistent rules for dealing with cyber threats, both letting other nations know the punishments for different types of attacks and planning for countermeasures.

Tuesday’s hearing, which focused on cybersecurity issues, featured Cyber Command and NSA Director Michael Rogers.

Rogers said that there was no new cybersecurity policy or strategy to announce, as McCain had hoped, but “the new team is working on it.”

“So the check is in the mail?” McCain joked.