Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem had little new to say today in response to questioning from a top House Republican on what the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts for fiscal year 2026 would eliminate at the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA).
Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, questioned Noem during a full committee hearing on what CISA functions would be reduced if the proposed funding cuts were signed into law.
The congressman pressed Noem to explain proposed funding reductions totaling $471 million, which he said remain unaccounted for after subtracting $20 million that CISA spent on election security activities.
“I’m all on board with getting rid of disinformation and misinformation … but that was in fiscal year 2023 that was only $20 million … that still leaves about $471 million of cuts, it’s about a 17 percent cut to its total budget. Why such a large cut?” asked Rep. Garbarino.
The congressman’s statements referred to a proposed budgetary slash of $491 million in FY2026 for the cybersecurity arm of DHS, following the Trump administration’s allegations of censorship that targeted President Donald Trump as par of CISA’s election-focused security efforts.
Last week, while testifying at a Senate Homeland Security Appropriations hearing, Noem told panel members that CISA was back on track after its election entities were eliminated, following her claims that related efforts detracted from the agency’s core mission.
“The reductions that you see are in the areas where it got off mission,” Noem told Rep. Garbarino today. “But the cybersecurity side of CISA is strengthened and emboldened under President Trump’s leadership and will be into the future.”
Rep. Garbarino also said he had not heard back on a letter sent in February inquiring about reported workforce reductions at CISA.
“Given the growing cybersecurity threat landscape and the administration’s stated interest which they have in addressing these threats, I’m concerned that reducing system staff will help will not help CISA accomplish the mission of providing cybersecurity to the people that need it,” the congressman said.
In response to a question from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Noem added that CISA has “refocused [its] resources back onto the cybersecurity mission.”
“You are making Americans less safe if you’re cutting the things that help keep America safe,” House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told Noem during opening statements. “Why should we give you an extra $44 billion … is it to decimate CISA and invite China, Russia, Iran and other adversaries into our cyber network?”
The White House’s FY2026 budget proposal wants to boost DHS spending by a whopping $65 billion with much of that directed to immigration and other law enforcement activities.