IC Oversight & Authorities — 2026-06-05

House Homeland Security Committee Opens FY2027 DHS Budget Hearing Covering CISA and Intelligence Office Restructuring

BLUFCISA's expanding mission set under a shrinking budget and workforce creates a self-reinforcing capacity gap that no amount of state and local partnering can credibly close.

Secretary Mullin testified before the House Homeland Security Committee on June 3, acknowledging CISA has shed roughly a third of its workforce since Trump's second term began, falling from approximately 3,400 to around 2,200 employees 12. He argued the agency can remain effective at that scale by relying more heavily on state and local partners, and told lawmakers CISA needs "somewhere around" 2,800 personnel 12. The FY2027 budget request would cut more than $700 million from CISA and transfer BioWatch and Securing the Cities programs from the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office into the agency 12. Chairman Garbarino raised concerns that proposed cuts to personnel and cybersecurity education programs could undermine the workforce pipeline, and noted the committee's ongoing effort to reform the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis to improve intelligence sharing with relevant entities 3.

Analysis
Mullin's June 3 testimony, the only primary record, confirmed under oath what April budget reporting had not: CISA has fallen from roughly 3,400 to 2,200 personnel, and he conceded the agency needs around 2,800. Adding BioWatch and Securing the Cities programs while cutting more than $700 million widens the mission-capacity mismatch. Without a Senate-confirmed director since January, CISA cannot credibly set priorities or sustain the private-sector partnerships Mullin named as the compensating mechanism. The reductions may instead have concentrated in mission-creep positions rather than core operations. Cuts to cybersecurity education programs narrow the future hiring pool, making the capacity gap self-reinforcing over time.

4 sources

DHS chief signals efforts to reshape CISA - The Record
DHS Secretary Says Smaller CISA Can Handle New Duties - BankInfoSecurity
Chairman Garbarino Opens Hearing on FY2027 DHS Budget - House Homeland Security Committee
A Review of the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request for DHS - House Committee on Homeland Security