The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed a new public-private critical infrastructure collaboration system to replace a framework that President Donald Trump eliminated weeks after returning to office.
The Alliance of National Councils for Homeland Operational Resilience – Critical Infrastructure (ANCHOR-CI) will serve as an umbrella system for a group of advisory councils composed of critical infrastructure operators, government officials and “organizations with direct responsibility for cybersecurity and critical infrastructure security and resilience activities,” according to a DHS filing set to be published in the Federal Register.
DHS said ANCHOR-CI would “provide forums through which cybersecurity, law enforcement, intelligence, national security, and other government representatives at the federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels may engage representatives of private sector entities and critical infrastructure owners and operators in reviewing the current threat environment, discussing potential vulnerabilities, and forming recommendations on securing a more resilient critical infrastructure and cyberspace.”
The new system replaces the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC), which the Trump administration abruptly terminated in March 2025. That decision frustrated and alarmed critical infrastructure operators who soon saw their partnerships with federal agencies deteriorate. The administration offered little explanation for eliminating CIPAC beyond vague statements about how it was not flexible enough for the modern threat environment. Many cybersecurity experts said the decision endangered national security.
Under the new ANCHOR-CI framework, critical infrastructure operators and their government partners can establish four types of councils: sector-specific councils, including sector coordinating councils (SCCs) composed of leading infrastructure operators and trade associations and government coordinating councils (GCCs) composed of the federal, state and local agencies responsible for overseeing and assisting those infrastructure providers; cross-sector councils designed to address interdependencies between categories of infrastructure; industry councils for industries that span multiple sectors; and regional councils for geographically focused resilience partnerships.
