The White House has signaled plans to cut the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) budget by $491 million on the grounds that the agency became a “censorship industrial complex” at the expense of cyber defense.
In budget documents sent to Congress, the proposed $491 million cut is being positioned as a “refocusing” CISA on its core mission “while eliminating weaponization and waste.”
“The Budget also removes offices that are duplicative of existing and effective programs at the State and Federal level,” according to documentation published by the White House.
“The Budget eliminates programs focused on so-called misinformation and propaganda as well as external engagement offices such as international affairs. These programs and offices were used as a hub in the Censorship Industrial Complex to violate the First Amendment, target Americans for protected speech, and target the President,” OMB Director Russell Vought wrote in his justification for the cuts.
“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 White House added.
The White House justification was echoed by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in an RSA Conference keynote that accused CISA of straying from its founding purpose.
Noem said DHS was conducting a review of CISA’s structure, funding and staff and insisted the agency will be reoriented to its original mission of hands-on cyber defense support.
“We are not eliminating CISA,” Noem said, “but we are making sure it does what it was created to do: hunt and harden systems. That’s what the American people need.”
Going forward, Noem said CISA’s resources will shift toward helping to defend federal agencies, state and local governments, and small businesses that often lack cybersecurity expertise.
The proposed budget cut comes amid visible turbulence at CISA in recent weeks that included layoffs, last-minute contract renewals for the MITRE CVE program and the cancellation of contracts with security vendors.
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