Hurd’s exit leaves cybersecurity gap in Congress

When Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, exits Congress next year, there will be one fewer lawmaker on Capitol Hill who has a firm grasp on cybersecurity issues.

Hurd, a former CIA undercover agent, said in a statement announcing his decision not to run for reelection in 2020 that he was still going to brandish his security chops, noting that he “left the agency in order to help the national security community in a different way by bringing my skills to Congress, and I am going to leave the halls of Congress to help our country in a different way as well.”

The Texas congressman noted the “global race to be the leader in artificial intelligence, because whoever dominates AI will rule the world” and said the country faces “cyberattacks every day.”

During his questioning of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller two weeks ago, Hurd abandoned political posturing in favor of ferreting out information on Russian meddling, prompting Mueller to say that not only was the 2016 interference not an isolated incident but that Russia continued to attack "as we sit here."

From his perch outside the legislative branch, Hurd said he would work “to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security.”