White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said Thursday that he will step down at the end of the month after two and a half years on the job, according to a report from the Washington Post. A White House spokesperson confirmed Schmidt will be retiring after 34 years of government service, including a stint as a top cybersecurity adviser to President George W. Bush. Schmidt also served in the Air Force and as chief information security officer at eBay and Microsoft. He will be replaced by Michael Daniel, who has spent 17 years in the Office of Management and Budget's National Security division. Daniel has reportedly worked on cybersecurity issues for the past decade and played a key role in developing budgets for the intelligence community.

The timing of Schmidt's departure is curious, since the administration is currently embroiled in a fierce debate over cybersecurity legislation, and he is considered one of the foremost experts on the issue by both parties. Schmidt recently re-iterated the White House's opposition to CISPA (HR 3523), the information-sharing legislation passed by the House over objections from privacy advocates. But the Senate cybersecurity bill championed by the White House (S 2105) has drawn similar complaints and resistance from chamber Democrats, including Sens. Al Franken of Minnesota and Ron Wyden of Oregon. With industry and most Republicans already firmly set against the bill, the White House is quickly running out of allies in its quest to implement new security regulations for critical infrastructure providers.

Schmidt was one of the strongest proponents of such regulations, which the White House maintains are crucial even as industry-led lobbying efforts have weakened their provisions considerably. His departure could signal a softening from the White House, which must forge a compromise or risk political fallout after being out-maneuvered on the issue by House Republicans.

Upstate N.Y. Mayors Worried About Verizon-Cable Spectrum Deal: The Mayors of nine upstate New York cities including Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Elmira wrote (PDF) to the Federal Communications Commission expressing concern about the proposed sale of spectrum from a group of cable companies to Verizon. The deal includes cross-promotional agreements that critics worry will result in the two sides ceasing to compete with each other in the pay-TV and broadband markets.

The Mayors note Verizon's FiOS network is not available in any of their cities, but has been deployed in more affluent suburbs ringing Buffalo, Albany, and other cities. They fear the merger will prevent Verizon from building out its broadband network in their cities, and point to the company's recent announcement that it will no longer sell stand-alone DSL services. The Justice Department and FCC are both reviewing the transaction.

Senate Antitrust Committee chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., wrote to Verizon (PDF) on Thursday voicing concern over the DSL announcement as well. We'll be following up, so stay tuned.