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Appropriations members press CISA on proposed cuts, request details on $139 million reprogramming
Summary
House Appropriations subcommittee members questioned CISA leadership about an administration budget proposal that members said would cut about 20% of the agency's funds and pending reprogramming and requested detailed information on impacts before markup.
Ranking Member Underwood and members of the House Appropriations subcommittee pressed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's senior official performing the duties of the director, Bridget Bean, on the administration's budget request and an agency reprogramming request ahead of a planned markup.
Underwood said the agency is facing what she described as "an almost 20% cut to CISA, 491000000 dollars," and said the proposal included workforce reductions through "early retirement buyouts and questionable terminations." "That's not cutting fat. That's a death blow," she said. She urged the committee to press CISA on how those reductions would affect congressionally mandated missions.
The subcommittee chair repeated members' requests that CISA provide timely, written answers about how proposed cuts and an outstanding reprogramming request would affect core missions. The chair said CISA had been asked to transfer $139,000,000 in a reprogramming request and that members were concerned about roughly a half-billion dollars of reductions in the budget request. The chair asked for responses "within 15 days" to members' follow-up questions and requested a detailed accounting before the committee marks up appropriations for the agency.
CISA's acting senior official, Bridget Bean, defended the agency's recent work and said the agency remains committed to executing "our core mission as authorized by Congress" while implementing the administration's priorities. Bean said CISA is focused on cybersecurity, infrastructure security, and emergency communications and that the agency is working to find efficiencies while continuing mission work.
Members repeatedly framed their questions as seeking clarity rather than assuming malfeasance, but raised concerns that rapid workforce reductions could degrade capabilities that members said are critical for defending elections, the energy sector and other infrastructure. Underwood cited the agency's role in protecting election infrastructure and referenced a past 2016 intrusion in Illinois to underscore her argument that election security falls within CISA's statutory responsibilities.
The subcommittee did not adopt any formal votes during the hearing on appropriations actions. Members asked for written follow-ups and signaled they would review CISA's responses before acting on the pending reprogramming or finalizing budget recommendations.
The subcommittee chair closed the hearing by reiterating the 15-day turnaround request for the written follow-ups and saying the panel would consider the information prior to markup.
