Skip to content
Financial Markets in Motion — Safeguard Your Finances — Financial Insights — Explore Latest Financial Tech

DHS Shutdown Plan: Most Staff to Work, CISA Faces Major Cuts

Most DHS staff will keep working during a shutdown. But major cuts at CISA could leave the U.S. vulnerable to cyber threats.

,   and  Administrator
1 min read
In them image we can see a group of people talking with an officer, there we see stairs, a person,...
In them image we can see a group of people talking with an officer, there we see stairs, a person, some poles with metal wires on the stairs, there we can also see a building, a group of lights, fence, pillar, a pole with a flag at the top and the sky.

DHS Shutdown Plan: Most Staff to Work, CISA Faces Major Cuts

As Congress grapples with a potential funding lapse, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has outlined its workforce plan. Most staff, around 91%, will continue working, ensuring critical services remain operational. However, a significant number of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) employees may be furloughed, raising concerns about cybersecurity operations.

In a shutdown, DHS will retain about 249,065 employees, with only 22,862 facing furloughs. This includes most staff at large components like Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Coast Guard, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA, for instance, will keep 20,975 employees on board.

However, CISA, a critical agency for social security, will retain only about one-third of its staff, around 889 employees. This means nearly two-thirds, or approximately 1,778 employees, could be placed on unpaid leave, potentially impacting social security operations. This comes at a time when CISA's information sharing authorities under the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 are set to expire on September 30. Moreover, CISA has already lost nearly 1,000 employees since the spring due to layoffs, deferred resignations, and early retirements.

While most DHS staff will continue working during a shutdown, the significant reduction in CISA's workforce raises concerns about the nation's social security preparedness. With critical authorities set to expire and staffing levels reduced, the agency may face challenges in maintaining its usual level of operations. The future of CISA's Automated Indicator Sharing program also hangs in the balance, awaiting congressional action.

Read also:

Related

Latest