Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was demanded by bipartisan members of the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee to provide more details on the proposed $491 million reduction in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's budget for fiscal year 2026, reports The Record.
Aside from emphasizing the "unconstitutional" nature of the significant CISA spending cut, subcommittee ranking member Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., also pressed Noem on how the Trump administration intends to combat Chinese state-backed attacks against U.S. networks, as well as a final date on the release of Trump's cyber plan. While Noem noted that the plan will be arriving soon, she did not answer Underwood's question seeking justification for the budget reduction amid Chinese cyberattacks. Additional details regarding the Trump administration's plans on CISA were also demanded by subcommittee Chair Mark Amodei, R-Nev. "We need some building blocks for whoever the CISA people are. What's the plan for us to be kicking China's butt and how we'll still be OK on that civilian sector stuff? We need solid ground for that kind of stuff," Amodei said.
Aside from emphasizing the "unconstitutional" nature of the significant CISA spending cut, subcommittee ranking member Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., also pressed Noem on how the Trump administration intends to combat Chinese state-backed attacks against U.S. networks, as well as a final date on the release of Trump's cyber plan. While Noem noted that the plan will be arriving soon, she did not answer Underwood's question seeking justification for the budget reduction amid Chinese cyberattacks. Additional details regarding the Trump administration's plans on CISA were also demanded by subcommittee Chair Mark Amodei, R-Nev. "We need some building blocks for whoever the CISA people are. What's the plan for us to be kicking China's butt and how we'll still be OK on that civilian sector stuff? We need solid ground for that kind of stuff," Amodei said.
