If Congress fails to provide funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later this week there will be operational impacts on missions carried out by the Coast Guard and officials charged with improving the security of the government’s computer networks and systems, department officials told Congress on Wednesday.
A lapse in funding for DHS “will curtail Coast Guard operations worldwide,” jeopardize award of the construction contract for the eighth National Security Cutter (NSC), and result in the furlough of more than 6,000 civilians working for the service, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft, told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Coast Guard Subcommittee.
All levels of government throughout the country are under constant cyber attacks trying “to do us harm,” Suzanne Spaulding, under secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate at DHS, told the House Homeland Security Committee later in the day. “We are running on a daily basis, full speed ahead to try to keep ahead of those efforts of those adversaries. Anything that hampers us or slows us down creates risk for us as a nation.”
Spaulding said that if DHS funding for FY ’15 runs out on Feb. 27 she will still be working but without a paycheck. However, she said, only 57 percent or 1,748 employees of NPPD will still be working, most of which will are from the Federal Protective Service, which provides security for federal facilities, and the Office of Biometric Identity Management, which operates the database for storing biometrics of illegal immigrants and known and suspected terrorists.
“But the rest of my workforce that worries about critical infrastructure in the private sector, [including] cyber, will be down to about 9 percent of normal,” Spaulding said.
Other impacts from a shutdown will include a halt to outreach efforts to the private sector on cyber security, delays in implementing the Einstein cyber intrusion detection and prevention system and the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program across federal networks, and in adding new cybersecurity providers from the private sector to the Enhanced Cybersecurity Services Program, which enables the government to share sensitive and classified information with these entities.
“And so our ability to protect critical infrastructure owners and operators will be impacted,” she said.
Even operating under the ongoing continuing resolution, which currently funds DHS FY ’14 levels, there is uncertainty and an “inability to fund vital new homeland security initiatives,” Spaulding said.
Zukunft said the Coast Guard hopes to make a decision on awarding the last NSC contract by mid-March, adding that time is running out. Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] produces the high-endurance NSCs for the Coast Guard.
A Coast Guard spokesman told Defense Daily that a lapse in funding “may lead to millions of dollars in increased costs and delay delivery of this ship, which is so important in our efforts to stop the illegal flow of drugs coming into the country from transnational criminal networks.”
HII has delivered four NSCs to the Coast Guard and is under contract for production of four more. The service plans to buy eight of the vessels.
Curbs on funding through the continuing resolution will also impact operations, Zukunft said, forcing the service to make adjustments to control spending.
“Whenever you scale back operations you play to the hands of our adversaries and they take full advantage of the lack of Coast Guard persistent presence,” Zukunft said.
Zukunft on Monday published an article in the Coast Guard’s Compass blog saying the “unreliable funding” also impacts the maintenance of its ships and aircraft and that a lapse in funding means nearly $1 billion in acquisition and maintenance contracts will be delayed, which in turn reduces “operational availability and effectiveness” over the long term.
The House has approved an FY ’15 funding bill for DHS that defunds President Barak Obama’s actions that would allow millions of illegal immigrants to remain in the United States temporarily. Until Wednesday the Senate had failed four times to bring the measure to a vote but today Democrats in the chamber agreed to let the bill be considered after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) eliminated the riders blocking Obama’s actions on immigration.
At our deadline on Wednesday the Senate hadn’t scheduled a vote on a clean funding bill for DHS and it was unclear whether House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would consider the modified measure.