Top officials from the Department of Homeland Security talked to House lawmakers about what the agency needs for next fiscal year — even as it's in the midst of a record-breaking shutdown.
The acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the admiral of the U.S. Coast Guard and others testified about the impact of the current funding lapse on their workforce and programs. Several agency leaders requested money for more staff, while also raising concern that not all their workers were back in the office and had missed paychecks.
Some lawmakers called the hearing on Thursday an "absurdity," and the process "frustrating."
Lawmakers have been in a stalemate for over 60 days about funding the entire department, which includes agencies that oversee immigration enforcement, disaster relief, cybersecurity and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Democrats in the Senate refused to fund DHS as part of regular appropriations for the current fiscal year after immigration officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in January. That meant the department ran out of money to operate on Feb. 14; it's now been without funding for more than 60 days. The previous longest shutdown, in November, lasted for 43 days — though it affected all government agencies.
But Democrats have failed to get Republicans on board with their demands for changes in how DHS's law enforcement operates. The White House and congressional Republicans have instead managed to find alternative sources of funding to continue immigration enforcement.
That includes the $75 billion congressional Republicans provided to ICE last summer as part of a partisan tax and spending package, which also included funds for Customs and Border Protection. ICE has tapped into that funding during the two most recent government shutdowns to continue paying its officers.
During the current shutdown, President Donald Trump signed a memo to pay Transportation Security Administration employees, and later extended it to all DHS employees, without detailing where exactly the money was coming from.
Here are some takeaways from the hearing:
1. Longest-ever shutdown dominates the testimony
In an opening statement, Rep. Rosa DeLauro said she noted "the absurdity of holding a hearing on funding for these agencies" for next year — while both parties are split on how to fund the agencies even for this year.
Republicans for their part are discussing whether they could fund the department for three years, or the rest of Trump's term, through a partisan process called reconciliation — the mechanism also used for immigration-focused funding passed last year.
All three of the DHS officials voiced support for the plan and urged Republicans to pass a reconciliation measure by June 1.
Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., the chairman of the Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee, expressed skepticism about the plan, saying it was "phenomenally interesting" that the agency officials were asking for a bill with no changes to immigration oversight.
"It's like saying, 'We're going to abolish Article 1 for three years,' no disrespect," he later said during closing comments, referring to the article in the U.S. Constitution that established Congress. "We want to give you your stuff in a consistent, predictable, sustainable way – that's our job. Just prefund me for three years. Really? How about you prepay me for three years. You'd be dumber than hell to do that."
2. Detention conditions, deaths, expansion plans probed
Texas Democrats questioned Todd Lyons, the acting ICE head, on the agency's plans to retrofit warehouses across the country as processing or detention facilities.
Reps. Henry Cuellar and Escobar asked about plans to bring warehouses to their state and argued the communities were rebuking the effort and lacked the infrastructure to support the projects.
Lyons said one facility in San Antonio is scheduled to be a processing center for 500 to 1,000 people and may include an immigration court. Other plans, such as a facility in McAllen, Texas, are under review.
"Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin is looking over the whole detention plan, and he's going to make an informed decision of where he wants to move forward and locations," Lyons said.
Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., asked Lyons about the record number of deaths under ICE custody. Lyons noted that the FBI was not investigating the death of a man at the Camp East Montana detention center in Texas, which a coroner determined was a homicide.
"Zero deaths is what we want. We don't want anyone to die in custody," Lyons said, adding that the agency spent "almost half a billion last fiscal year…to ensure that people have proper care."
But, when asked, he couldn't say how many people were still working in the Office of Detention Oversight, which would investigate such deaths and broader detention conditions and standards.
3. USCIS seeks funding for a law enforcement unit
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow said his agency wants to create a new law enforcement arm and hire and train 200 officers separate from those who work for ICE and CBP.
Under Trump, USCIS has increasingly turned to anti-immigration policing from its traditional focus on the ways people can lawfully migrate and stay in the U.S.
"What I am trying to create here is a very narrow criminal investigation branch that is going to focus specifically on immigration fraud and entitlement fraud," Edlow said, adding that each special agent would go through a nine-week training specific to USCIS.
Republicans and Democrats asked Edlow about growing waits for people to get an answer on their work permits or naturalization application.
"I agree processing times on certain applications have gone up over the last fiscal year," Edlow said. "I consider this to be short-term pain, which is going to really lead to long-term gain in the fair and proper processing of immigration."
USCIS is not directly impacted by the department-wide shutdown since they are funded by fees people pay when they submit their applications. Edlow said that last fiscal year the agency collected $7.5 billion in fee revenue, exceeding its goals.
4. Other DHS agencies including TSA and Coast Guard take the stand
Officials for the non-immigration agencies under DHS also testified about the need for funding.
Nick Andersen, acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said the shutdown has harmed his agency's work, with only about 40% of staff consistently working.
Karen Evans, the acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the funding lapse is delaying reimbursements to local governments to handle disasters.
"We know the reimbursements are critical," Evans said, noting the agency and other parts of DHS are responding to several disasters right now, including a super-typhoon in the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.
And U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Kevin Lunday said there were over 500 unpaid utility bills because of the shutdown, "threatening to cut off electricity and water to Coast Guard stations" and a backlog to process 18,000 merchant mariner credentials, a standard credential required to work on U.S. vessels.
5. Upcoming national events pose national security, personnel challenges
Sean Curran, director of the U.S. Secret Service, warned that the next few years through 2028 are poised to be a heavy lift for the agency. Curran noted that the current workforce is not big enough to handle the FIFA World Cup, 2028 Olympics and the 2028 presidential cycle.
His agency is asking for funding to hire 852 new positions and he noted the Secret Service is also helping to train local law enforcement for the events, which also requires funding.
"I found out that [Los Angeles Police Department], they're not ready for drone detection and mitigation so we are going to train them," Curran said.
Rodney Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, also said the funding lapse put on hold training for personnel related to the World Cup games this summer.
The agency is also unable to pay for border maintenance, contractors, and certain planes and boats.
Ha Nguyen McNeill, the TSA acting administrator, said the agency is poised to lose more people as the shutdown drags on.
Shortages in TSA staffing prompted hours-long delays at airports nationwide last month, before Trump said the executive branch would pay them.
"We are less than two months away from the FIFA world cup and it takes us 4 to 6 months to train a new officer so with any spikes in attrition that is going to put us in a difficult position come this summer," Nguyen McNeill said.
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