Under Secretary, NPPD
Suzanne E. Spaulding serves as Under Secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) at the Department of Homeland Security. She oversees the coordinated operational and policy functions of the Directorate’s subcomponents: office of Cybersecurity and Communications, Infrastructure Protection, Biometric Identity Management, Cyber and Infrastructure Analysis, and the Federal Protective Service.
NPPD’s mission is to strengthen the security and resiliency of the nation’s critical infrastructure against physical and cyber risk, securing federal facilities, building capabilities in the .gov and .com domains, and advancing identity management verification. The directorate accomplishes its mission by partnering with infrastructure owners and operators as well as Federal, State, local and territorial officials.
Ms. Spaulding has spent nearly 25 years working on national security issues for both Republican and Democratic Administrations and on both sides of the aisle of Congress. She was most recently a principal in the Bingham Consulting Group and Counsel for Bingham McCutchen LLP in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the private sector, she served as the minority staff director for the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for Ranking Member Jane Harman (D-CA), and as general counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. She also spent six years at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and served as senior counsel and legislative director for U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (PA).
She has led or served on national commissions on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, she has served on commissions on cybersecurity and homeland security, convened and participated in numerous academic and professional advisory panels.
Ms. Spaulding earned both her law degree and undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia.
###