{"id":873,"date":"2026-08-21T16:45:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T16:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=873"},"modified":"2026-08-21T16:45:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T16:45:54","slug":"house-democrats-want-answers-on-what-cisa-lost-in-workforce-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=873","title":{"rendered":"House Democrats want answers on what CISA lost in workforce cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Five House Democrats are asking Congress\u2019 investigative arm to examine how significant staffing cuts at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have affected the government\u2019s ability to defend federal networks and critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s FDA pick faces questions about leading the agency<\/a><\/p>\n

The lawmakers are calling on the Government Accountability Office \u2014 the top congressional watchdog that audits and evaluates federal programs \u2014 to examine the impact of personnel and program reductions enacted at CISA since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, according to a letter first seen by Nextgov\/FCW<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The request, addressed to acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown, is led by Reps. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee. Ramirez is the top Democrat on the panel\u2019s cybersecurity subcommittee, where Walkinshaw also serves. Reps. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., and LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., who also serve on the cyber panel, joined the request.<\/p>\n

The lawmakers say CISA has lost nearly a third of its workforce \u201cat precisely the moment when our adversaries are accelerating attacks against critical infrastructure,\u201d leaving Congress without a clear picture of which capabilities were lost and whether remaining teams can keep pace with growing cyber and physical threats.<\/p>\n

The concerns have grown during the war with Iran, as CISA and the FBI help utilities navigate\u00a0cyberattacks affecting at least 12 states that some U.S. officials suspect may be tied to Tehran.<\/p>\n

The lawmakers are asking GAO to examine how CISA\u2019s workforce has changed over the past five years, including its size, composition, geographic distribution and reliance on contractors. They also want the watchdog to identify which programs were affected by the reductions and what consequences CISA and its industry and government partners have reported.<\/p>\n

The letter further asks GAO to evaluate what data CISA uses to make workforce decisions and whether its human capital strategy aligns with its current and future mission needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle is known about the impact of these workforce reductions on CISA\u2019s programs and services,\u201d the lawmakers write, arguing it\u2019s unclear whether the agency is positioned to replace the skills it has lost.<\/p>\n

Read more New CDC chief looks to rebuild a workforce fearful of retaliation<\/a><\/p>\n

Nextgov\/FCW<\/em> has asked CISA and GAO for comment.<\/p>\n

CISA is now attempting to rebuild parts of its workforce after layoffs, voluntary departures and other personnel actions reduced staffing from roughly 3,300 employees to about 2,200. Acting Director Nick Andersen has said the agency plans to hire about 330 people, while Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said CISA may need roughly 600 additional staff and that hiring could take a year or more.<\/p>\n

Walkinshaw previously told Nextgov\/FCW<\/em> that restaffing the agency would be \u201ca very difficult thing to do,\u201d noting that cyber personnel have seen colleagues pushed out and their work publicly criticized by administration officials.<\/p>\n

The workforce picture has also been complicated by internal DHS transfers. CISA\u2019s former acting director\u00a0told lawmakers in February that about 70 agency employees were reassigned to other DHS offices, while just over 30 moved into CISA.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the administration\u2019s fiscal 2027 budget request calls for\u00a0eliminating roughly 870 CISA positions, including cutting staff tied to election security, stakeholder engagement and workforce development. House appropriators have since advanced a bill that would provide CISA with about $400 million more than the White House requested and set aside $31 million for critical hires. The measure has not received a House floor vote, and the Senate has not released its version, leaving the agency\u2019s final funding and staffing levels unsettled.<\/p>\n

The cuts were part of the Trump administration\u2019s broader push to\u00a0shrink the federal workforce, but CISA has drawn particular scrutiny over its past election security work.<\/p>\n

That fight dates back to Trump\u2019s first term, when he\u00a0fired CISA\u2019s first director, Chris Krebs, after Krebs rejected Trump\u2019s false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. Republicans have concurrently accused the agency of censoring conservative speech when it worked with social media platforms to flag election- and COVID-related misinformation in and around the 2020 race.<\/p>\n

Read more OPM wants to woo young workers. Can internet memes overcome Trump\u2019s cuts to the civil service?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers want Congress\u2019 watchdog to assess what capabilities were lost after the cyber agency shed roughly one-third of its staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management"],"yoast_head":"\nHouse Democrats want answers on what CISA lost in workforce cuts - Market Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marketrelocationreport.com\/?p=873\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"House Democrats want answers on what CISA lost in workforce cuts - 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