Eric Swalwell, a Democrat Senator from California and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, has requested the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to brief the subcommittee on significant changes to the agency’s workforce or organizational structure. This arises as the CISA’s authorizers and subcommittee members define its mission and guide its activities, making it crucial to comprehend how the administration’s modifications to the agency will impact the mission set forth.
Citing the reported cuts to CISA’s workforce and programs are imminent, “Late last week, CBS News reported that the Trump administration plans to reduce CISA’s workforce by nearly 40 percent. These cuts will allegedly impact CISA’s threat hunting, vulnerability management activities, and election security work, among other things,” Swalwell wrote in a letter to Bridget Bean, acting CISA director. “On Tuesday night, Secretary Noem circulated to all employees of the Department of Homeland Security an email indiscriminately urging them to quit their jobs, which could disrupt a range of mission sets at CISA.”
CISA fired 130 probationary employees in February, reinstated them in March under a federal court order, and immediately placed them on administrative leave. Swalwell highlighted that these rumored and pending changes to CISA’s workforce and programs are more alarming in the context of cuts the agency has made or attempted to make.
Swalwell added that with the federal court order lifted, it appears that the mass-firing of probationary employees may resume. “Last month, CISA terminated red team contracts that support efforts to identify network vulnerabilities. Additionally, CISA cut $10 million in funding for the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center and eliminated funding the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, both of which provide essential cybersecurity services to state and local governments.”
Security experts and CISA’s stakeholders have already raised concerns. Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that ‘firing cyber personnel at CISA harms national security on a daily basis — this goes well beyond disruption and is actually causing destabilization.’
In a LinkedIn post on Monday, Jen Easterly, former CISA director, wrote that “Congress should prevent any serious cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that reduce its ability to defend the nation in cyberspace. CISA’s collaboration with industry was critical in detecting & evicting PRC cyber actors from US networks.”
Swalwell added that it is difficult to convey in writing the full extent of his concern regarding the rumored plans to decimate CISA, but it suffices to say that upending an agency that plays such an important role in defending the homeland while keeping Congress in the dark is wholly unacceptable.
“At no point has CISA provided the Subcommittee any justification for the drastic reorganization that is apparently well underway, nor has it explained how CISA will execute its congressionally mandated mission with a fraction of the workforce and resources,” he added. “CISA must brief members of the Subcommittee on proposed changes to CISA’s workforce and programs as soon as possible.”
Last week, House Democrat members urged the DHS Secretary to halt the reported plan by the Trump administration to dismantle FEMA. They highlighted that Secretary Kristi Noem’s recent statement about eliminating FEMA contradicts her earlier pledge to enhance emergency preparedness and strengthen the agency.
The Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration have reportedly suspended work on a US$524 million construction project for a new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency headquarters. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin confirmed the work stoppage in an email Friday, saying it would result in ‘MASSIVE savings.’ Bloomberg Government first reported on the halt.
The decision marks the latest in a series of Trump administration efforts to cut government spending by shrinking the federal workforce, downsizing agencies, and reducing government real estate. The CISA construction project, years in the making, is part of DHS’s broader plan to centralize its operations.
