Back
Politics

DHS Reports Operational Strain and Funding Needs During Extended Budget Lapse

Generated on: Last updated: 158 sources
View source

DHS Officials Testify on Funding Needs Amid Record-Long Lapse

Top officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) testified before the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee regarding the agency's funding needs for the next fiscal year. The hearing occurred while the department experienced a funding lapse that lasted over 60 days—described by officials as the longest such lapse for the department.

Agency Testimonies and Funding Requests

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons testified that the agency spent nearly half a billion dollars in the last fiscal year on detainee care and that ICE has used $75 billion in funding from a previous spending package to continue operations during the shutdown. Lyons stated the agency's goal is zero deaths in custody.

Lyons was questioned about plans to retrofit warehouses as processing or detention facilities. He stated that a facility in San Antonio is scheduled to become a processing center for 500 to 1,000 people and may include an immigration court.

"The agency's goal is zero deaths in custody." — Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

Director Joseph Edlow stated the agency seeks funding to create a new law enforcement unit focused on investigating immigration and entitlement fraud, separate from ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), with plans to hire and train 200 officers. Edlow acknowledged that processing times for some applications have increased. USCIS is funded by application fees and reported collecting $7.5 billion in fee revenue the previous fiscal year.

Other DHS Agencies

Officials from multiple DHS agencies reported operational impacts from the funding lapse:

  • Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA): Acting Director Nick Andersen stated approximately 40% of staff were consistently working.

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): Acting Administrator Karen Evans said the funding lapse is delaying disaster reimbursement payments to local governments.

  • U.S. Coast Guard: Admiral Kevin Lunday reported over 500 unpaid utility bills threatening services to Coast Guard stations, and a backlog of 18,000 merchant mariner credentials. Lunday later indicated the service faced over $300 million in unpaid obligations, with thousands of overdue utility bills leading to service shutoffs at some duty stations and military housing.

  • U.S. Secret Service: Director Sean Curran stated that the current workforce is insufficient for upcoming major events including the FIFA World Cup, the 2028 Olympics, and the 2028 presidential election cycle. The agency requested funding for 852 new positions.

  • Customs and Border Protection (CBP): Commissioner Rodney Scott stated the funding lapse paused training for personnel related to the upcoming FIFA World Cup and halted payments for border maintenance, contractors, and certain equipment.

  • Transportation Security Administration (TSA): Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill stated the agency could lose more personnel as the shutdown continues, which could impact staffing for upcoming events. She noted that training a new officer takes 4 to 6 months.

"The current workforce is insufficient for upcoming major events including the FIFA World Cup, the 2028 Olympics, and the 2028 presidential election cycle." — Secret Service Director Sean Curran

Congressional Context and Lawmaker Statements

The hearing occurred amid a stalemate over funding the department. The department ran out of operating funds on February 14.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro described holding a hearing on future funding while current funding is unresolved as an "absurdity." Some lawmakers described the process as "frustrating."

Republican lawmakers discussed the possibility of funding the department for three years through a partisan budget process called reconciliation. Three DHS officials voiced support for this plan and urged passage by June 1.

Rep. Mark Amodei, chairman of the subcommittee, expressed skepticism about the plan, questioning the request for a multi-year bill with no changes to immigration oversight.

"An absurdity." — Rep. Rosa DeLauro, on holding a hearing about future funding while current funding remains unresolved

Background

Democrats in the Senate declined to fund DHS as part of regular appropriations for the current fiscal year after immigration officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in January.

The previous longest government shutdown affecting all federal agencies lasted 43 days in November.

During the current funding lapse, the President signed a memo to pay TSA employees, later extended to all DHS employees, without detailing the funding source.