diff --git a/src/registrar/forms/domain_request_wizard.py b/src/registrar/forms/domain_request_wizard.py
index 4992703d3..19e994c90 100644
--- a/src/registrar/forms/domain_request_wizard.py
+++ b/src/registrar/forms/domain_request_wizard.py
@@ -685,9 +685,9 @@ class CisaRepresentativeForm(BaseDeletableRegistrarForm):
     email = forms.EmailField(
         label="Email",
         max_length=None,
+        required=False,
         error_messages={
             "invalid": ("Enter your email address in the required format, like name@example.com."),
-            "required": ("Enter the email address of your CISA regional representative."),
         },
         validators=[
             MaxLengthValidator(
diff --git a/src/registrar/models/domain_request.py b/src/registrar/models/domain_request.py
index a1668a6c8..cad599439 100644
--- a/src/registrar/models/domain_request.py
+++ b/src/registrar/models/domain_request.py
@@ -538,15 +538,16 @@ class DomainRequest(TimeStampedModel):
         """
 
         cisa_rep_is_not_none = self.cisa_representative is not None
-        logger.debug("CISA REPRESENTATIVE IS %s" % cisa_rep_is_not_none)
+        cisa_first_name = None
 
         # This ensures that if we have prefilled data, the form is prepopulated
         if cisa_rep_is_not_none:
-            self.has_cisa_representative = True
+            cisa_first_name = self.cisa_representative.first_name
+            self.has_cisa_representative = cisa_first_name is not None and cisa_first_name != ""
 
         # This check is required to ensure that the form doesn't start out checked
         if self.has_cisa_representative is not None:
-            self.has_cisa_representative = cisa_rep_is_not_none
+            self.has_cisa_representative = cisa_first_name is not None and cisa_first_name != ""
 
         # This ensures that if we have prefilled data, the form is prepopulated
         if self.anything_else is not None: