House appropriators have advanced a homeland security spending bill that endorses many of the Trump administration’s budget proposals, while rejecting steep cuts to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence personnel.
The fiscal 2026 homeland security appropriations measure includes $66.36 billion in discretionary spending. The GOP-led committee passed the bill Tuesday on a 36-27 vote.
The bill follows the broad contours of Trump administration policies by prioritizing funding for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Appropriators are also expecting significant funding for the Department of Homeland Security to be included in the budget reconciliation bill.
While the full House — not to mention the Senate — still need to weigh in on 2026 spending levels, the bill contains several key aspects.
CWMD elimination
The bill adopts the Trump administration’s proposal to disband DHS’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. The CWMD units functions would be split among various other DHS components.
“The committee declines to continue, via appropriation, a terminated office and instead chooses to move the critical functions of this office into other components,” the report on the spending bill states.
The statutory authorization for the CWMD office ended last March, but it had been able to continue with funding from appropriations. Senate appropriators have yet to weigh in on the proposal to disband CWMD.
CISA provisions
As Federal News Network previously reported, the House spending bill would soften the budget blow to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Instead of cutting CISA by nearly half a billion dollars as proposed by the Trump administration, the appropriations bill includes $2.7 billion for the agency in 2026 — roughly $134 million below its current annual budget.
House appropriators appear willing to capitalize on initial voluntary resignations at CISA by increasing spending for certain priorities.
For instance, the bill includes an increase of $2 million for CISA to implement the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act. The law will require certain critical infrastructure owners and operators to report cyber incidents to CISA within 72 hours. CISA is required by the law to issue final CIRCIA requirements later this year.
The additional funds the committee writes in its report, are to “ensure seamless implementation” of CIRCIA.
The bill also includes a $3.2 million increase for the CISA cybersecurity division’s critical infrastructure program. With lawmakers concerned about threats like Volt Typhoon, House appropriators want CISA to focus on “the most consequential critical infrastructure sectors being targeted by foreign nation-state actors.”
“CISA shall consider bringing on new services to the program and review the efficacy of a supply-chain vendor certification and real-time risk monitoring tool that ensures adherence to international best practices and security standards,” the report states.
AI Corps
House appropriators are also backing DHS’s Artificial Intelligence Corps. DHS established the AI Corps last year to support AI projects across the department. The Trump administration is targeting the AI Corps for cuts as part of broader reductions to DHS’s management enterprise.
“The committee acknowledges the ongoing work of the DHS AI Corps, which supports AI experts within DHS to bolster AI talent, further national security objectives, modernize DHS’s technology infrastructure, and reduce costs,” House appropriators wrote in their report. “The committee directs the DHS AI Corps to continue its efforts to achieve these objectives and to notify the committee regarding any planned cuts to programs or personnel.”
As of January, DHS had recruited roughly 50 AI experts to the corps.
Contractor cyber readiness pilot
House appropriators are also directing CISA to consider establishing a “DHS contractor cyber readiness pilot.”
The pilot would evaluate the cybersecurity of DHS contractors based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Special Publication 800-171 for protecting controlled unclassified information.
The Defense Department’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, or CMMC, program assesses the same NIST standards.
“The goal of such pilot program would be to improve the protection of controlled unclassified Information and the integrity of national security supply chains,” House appropriators wrote. “The assessment shall include resource considerations for: initial planning and contractor selection, vulnerability assessments and remediation consultation services, analytical reporting and tailored remediation recommendations, and follow-up monitoring and compliance verification.”
TSA staffing and wait times
The House committee’s spending bill would reject a proposal by DHS to end the need for the Transportation Security Administration to staff exit lanes at many airports. Instead, the bill includes $100 million for TSA to continue staffing exit lanes.
The Trump administration wanted to end that requirement as part of its proposal to decrease TSA’s transportation security officer by 2%.
The committee’s bill doesn’t make an explicit judgment on the Trump administration’s proposal to decrease the workforce. But appropriators want to ensure TSA keeps airport screening wait times “reasonable.”
“The committee encourages TSA to maintain TSO staffing at a level that does not create delays for air travelers,” the report on the bill states.
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