The Trump administration plans to cut the operating budget of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) by $707 million for the fiscal year 2027.
The administration said it plans to restore CISA to its core mission of protecting federal networks and enhancing the cyber security and resilience of critical infrastructure.
The proposed budget cuts followed remarks by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, accusing the agency of straying from its core mission of “what it was created to do: hunt and harden systems.”
However, critics say the budget cuts would have significant national security implications at a critical moment when the country faces increased nation-state cyber threats.
Trump claims CISA budget cuts would reduce weaponization, waste, and redundancy
Defending the proposal, the administration argued that the operating budget cuts would reduce weaponization and waste by eliminating duplication of similar programs already existing at the federal and state levels.
Additionally, the administration stated that some of CISA’s programs had diverted from the agency’s core mission of protecting critical infrastructure, resulting in poor management and inefficiency. It claimed that some were “more focused on censorship than on protecting the Nation’s critical systems,” while others were actively engaged in self-promotion.
“CISA was more focused on censorship than on protecting the Nation’s critical systems, and put them at risk due to poor management and inefficiency, as well as a focus on self-promotion,” the budget proposal reads.
Trump had accused the agency of working with tech companies to “target free speech” through censorship, undermining Americans’ First Amendment rights.
CISA programs affected by the Trump admin’s CISA operating budget cuts
The proposed operating budget cuts would eliminate offices involved in international affairs, stakeholder engagement, council management, and combating misinformation.
“Budget eliminates programs focused on so-called misinformation and propaganda, as well as external engagement offices such as council management, stakeholder engagement, and international affairs,” the White House wrote.
It would also affect school safety programs already undertaken by state and federal governments to reduce redundancy.
Additionally, CISA’s threat hunting, capacity building, and vulnerability management division would lose $15.2 million in federal funding. Similarly, the agency’s regional operations, which help local governments in hardening their defenses, would lose $42 million and 71 field advisors.
The Stakeholder Engagement Division, council management teams, and international affairs team, which closely works with global partners, would also shut down completely. The National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center, which analyzes cross-sector risks, also stands to lose $18.5 million.
Similarly, the Partners’ Cyber Defense Education and Training (CDET) program would lose $45 million. The CyberSentry program and Cyber Analytic and Data System programs also stand to lose 75% and 55% of federal funding, respectively.
If passed, the proposed cuts would reduce CISA’s operating budget to $2 billion. In 2025, CISA had an operating budget of $2.4 billion. In the same year, President Trump proposed cutting $491 million from CISA’s election security program, which lawmakers reduced to $135 million after a heated political debate in Congress.
While the administration plans to save $707 million in the overall reduced CISA’s operating budget, the proposal would cut $386 million in direct funding and eliminate 867 roles, reducing the total number of employees to 2,865.
After Trump took office in 2025, approximately 1,000 CISA employees or about one-third of its workforce, left the agency. Reasons for leaving ranged from policy changes, reassignments, layoffs, or Trump’s voluntary buyouts, which offered financial incentives such as continued pay or early retirement benefits.
Key beneficiaries of Trump’s proposed cuts to CISA’s operating budget
While the Stakeholder Engagement Division, which supports 8 of the 16 critical infrastructure, would cease to exist altogether, it would move to another division and receive a $6.6 million boost. Similarly, the Sector Risk Management Agencies would receive 8 additional roles.
The proposed budget also adds 53 new Cybersecurity State Coordinators roles, with three designated for Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Continuous Diagnostics and Monitoring program would also receive an additional $66 million in procurement-related activities. Similarly, the National Risk Register would receive an additional $5 million in federal funding.
Additionally, CISA would coordinate with the DHS to hire 137 talented individuals in critical roles to ensure it was well-equipped to protect national interests. The Trump administration would also delegate the Cyber Defense Education and Training program to the states and point them to free educational resources.
Similarly, CISA hopes to recover $29 million from inefficiencies related to the Joint Collaborative Environment and the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative contracts. Nonetheless, some argue that the proposed budget cuts far outweigh the anticipated gains.
Possible national security implications of proposed cuts to CISA’s operating budget
Past cybersecurity incidents, such as the SolarWinds hack and the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, contributed to CISA’s expanded responsibilities.
While the administration insists that slashing the agency’s operating budget would reduce redundancy, waste, and weaponization, some argue that it would have significant national security implications when the country faces increased state-sponsored threats from its traditional adversaries, such as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
“Cutting $707 million from CISA would be a strategic mistake at exactly the wrong moment,” said Matthew Hartman, Chief Strategy Officer at Merlin Group. “CISA is the connective tissue for federal civilian cyber defense and a key partner to critical infrastructure owners and operators. Weakening CISA weakens the entire ecosystem. Among other threats, we are facing PRC (People’s Republic of China) pre-positioning on critical infrastructure and a growing use of AI to accelerate zero-day discovery and exploitation. That’s not an environment for belt-tightening – it’s a call to invest.”
According to John Bambenek, President at Bambenek Consulting, the White House intends to focus on protecting the federal government’s computer systems, leaving states, local governments, and the private sector to fend for themselves: “At a time when there are increased nation-state threats, that means less (or no) federal government help to protect society from hostile foreign governments,” he claimed. “Note that the fourth item on the administrations National Cyber Strategy was to secure critical infrastructure. It’s unclear how that can be done with less funds and little engagement by the federal government.”
