Head of BIS ICTS Office Leaving Agency Amid Continued Turnover
Liz Cannon, head of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services, is expected to resign from the agency after being pushed to leave by the Trump administration, two people familiar with the matter said. Cannon was told she would be reassigned to another position if she didn't leave, the people said.
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Cannon was named executive director of the ICTS office in 2024 during the Biden administration, where she has overseen the BIS division responsible for implementing import restrictions on certain technology that the U.S. determines to pose national security risks. That included the agency’s 2025 connected vehicle rule, which introduced import restrictions for certain Chinese vehicles and related “critical systems” used in those cars (see 2501140007 and 2503240028).
The ICTS office was also working on a new rule that was expected to impose import restrictions on certain Chinese-made drones and drone parts (see 2501020037) before it was withdrawn from interagency review earlier this month (see 2601090017).
The Wall Street Journal, which was first to report Cannon’s resignation, also said one of her deputies in the ICTS office left BIS after being put on administrative leave last week.
A BIS spokesperson said in a Jan. 23 email that the agency "is committed to using its ICTS authorities to address national security risks from foreign technology. Recent staffing changes at the ICTS Office will strengthen the Office and ensure that it continues to deliver for the American people.”
Dozens of senior career BIS officials have been pushed out from the agency, resigned or retired over the last year, including its top officials overseeing the Export Administration division (see 2502240003 and 2511190045), longtime engineers (see 2507280034), division chiefs (see 2503260007), policy advisers (see 2509090040), Western regional office employees (see 2510170008), and others.
More career BIS officials are expected to leave or retire in the coming weeks, according to people with knowledge of the departures.
BIS staff and industry members have said senior administration officials, including Undersecretary Jeffrey Kessler, are skeptical and distrustful of career officials (see 2504140055). Industry officials have also said they're concerned that the turnover could hamper the agency’s efforts to craft complicated export regulations and provide guidance to companies, especially because it was already dealing with staffing shortages (see 2502280006).