The Trump administration last Friday released the broad outlines of its fiscal year 2026 funding budget request, proposing a 65 percent increase for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that relies entirely on reconciliation bills the House committee has already marked up.
The proposed budget would provide $107.4 billion in discretionary spending for DHS, a record for the department, which has $65.1 billion in FY ’25 funding.
While a more detailed FY ’26 request is forthcoming, a footnote to the high-level discretionary funding levels disclosed on Friday said the recommendation “assumes” $43.8 billion in the reconciliation measures for DHS. That amount is $1.5 billion more than the expected DHS request, indicating the administration has some cuts in store for some agencies.
One agency set to be chunked is the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which will suffer a $491 million cut to its budget request.
“The Budget refocuses CISA on its core mission—Federal network defense and enhancing the security and resilience of critical infrastructure—while eliminating weaponization and waste,” the budget document says.
The weaponization refers to CISA’s role in combating election-related misinformation, a mission it took on during the first Trump administration to mitigate efforts by Russia and others to interfere with U.S. elections. President Trump fumed at then CISA Director Chris Krebs for saying the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden, was fair and free from cyber interference.
“These programs and offices were used as a hub in the Censorship Industrial Complex to violate the First Amendment, target Americans for protected speech, and target the president,” the document says. “CISA was more focused on censorship than on protecting the Nation’s critical systems, an put them at risk due to poor management and inefficiency, as well as a focus on self-promotion.”
The budget document also says the cuts to CISA eliminate “offices that are duplicative of existing and effective programs at the State and Federal level.”
Federal civilian agencies, and state and local governments have relied on CISA for everything from threat assessment, cybersecurity technologies, and help with good cyber practices.
The Transportation Security Administration is facing a $247 million cut to its budget, which the administration says is “consistent with the President’s goal to reduce wasteful Government spending and abuse of Government programs. Despite constant budget increases since their inception, TSA has consistently failed audits while implementing intrusive screening measures that violate American’s privacy and dignity.”
TSA officers screen millions of travelers each week at U.S. airports, relying on advanced X-ray and computed tomography (CT) systems to scan carry-on luggage at checkpoints for potential threats, and higher-speed CT systems to automatically scan checked bags for explosives. If an operator at a checkpoint spots a potential threat in a carry-on, the bag is typically swabbed, and even searched, to assess the anomaly.
In some instances, a traveler may be patted down.
TSA was stood up following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 when hijackers commandeered four planes in the U.S. and crashed them all. The hijackers were able to smuggle knives and box cutters through security checkpoints.
In addition to the proposed cuts to CISA and TSA, the budget document proposes $1.3 billion in cuts, including non-disaster programs and grants administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency such as Targeting Violence and Terrorism Prevention, which the administration says was “weaponized to target Americans exercising their First Amendment rights.”
Included in the $1.3 billion cut to programs and grants is the Shelter and Services Program that funds non-governmental organizations that assist illegal migrants.
The reconciliation measures that House committees have taken up include more than $175 billion in multi-year budget authority for DHS that would go to purchase Coast Guard assets, border security technology, immigration enforcement, and barriers along the southwest border.
“Reconciliation funding in 2026 would enable DHS to fully implement the President’s mass removal campaign, finish construction of the border wall on the Southwest border, procure advance border security technology, modernize the fleet and facilities of the Coast Guard, and enhance Secret Service protective operations,” the document says.