WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security paused its new disinformation governance board Wednesday and its board’s director will resign, following weeks of criticism from Republicans and questions about whether the board would impinge on free speech rights.

While the board was not formally shuttered, it will be reviewed by members of a DHS advisory council that’s expected to make recommendations in 75 days. Nina Jankowicz, picked to lead the board, wrote in her resignation letter that the board’s future was “uncertain,” according to her letter, obtained by The Associated Press.

Federal and state agencies treat disinformation as a national security threat. But the new board was hampered from the start by questions about its purpose and an uneven rollout that further confused its mission. The phrase “Ministry of Truth” — a reference to George Orwell’s “1984” — has repeatedly trended online in discussions about the board.

The Washington Post first reported the board would be paused.

Conservative pundits and right-leaning media have often focused directly on Ms. Jankowicz, a researcher on Russian disinformation named to lead the board. Critics have pointed to statements made by Jankowicz that questioned the provenance of a laptop said to belong to Hunter Biden, the president’s eldest son, and replayed a TikTok video she taped about disinformation to the tune of a song from “Mary Poppins.”

DHS officials have described the board as an internal working group intended to study definitions of disinformation across the department. They have not explained why they chose Ms. Jankowicz, who is not a lawyer and had a well-known public profile.

Supporters of Ms. Jankowicz have accused the department of not doing enough to protect her from trolls and online attacks.

“It is deeply disappointing that mischaracterizations of the board became a distraction from the Department’s vital work, and indeed, along with recent events globally and nationally, embodies why it is necessary,” Ms. Jankowicz wrote in her resignation letter.

Experts on disinformation warned the controversy around the board could hurt existing efforts to identify and stop the spread of false narratives about elections and hot-button issues in American society. DHS has several ongoing programs to counter disinformation, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s efforts to debunk claims of election fraud.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the creation of the board in late April, saying it would highlight Russian disinformation and false claims that encourage people to migrate to the America-Mexico border. The board was immediately controversial, with Republican lawmakers questioning whether President Biden’s administration was trying to police narratives it opposed.

The top Republicans on two key congressional oversight committees said they had a “complete lack of information about this new initiative.” And Mr. Mayorkas was attacked repeatedly over the board in recent appearances on Capitol Hill. Senator Romney, a Utah Republican, told Mr. Mayorkas the board was a “terrible idea” that “communicates to the world that we’re going to be spreading propaganda in our own country.”

DHS also faced the prospect of a lawsuit. Twenty Republican attorneys general, led by Jason Miyares of Virginia, threatened Mr. Mayorkas with legal action “unless you turn back now and disband this Orwellian Disinformation Governance Board immediately,” Mr. Miyares said in a statement.