"We had to readjust the way we’re looking at CISA and better lean on public partnerships," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Congress Wednesday.
Mullin's 2,800-personnel target for CISA
At a congressional hearing, Secretary Mullin said the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency would "ideally" have 2,800 personnel — a midpoint between the roughly 2,200 staff he said the agency has now and the roughly 3,400 staff the agency had before the second Trump administration began. Mullin framed 2,800 as a workable number provided stronger partnerships and grant usage: "If we can actually have the partnerships we need with states and be able to use the grants, the monies that [we] saved with CISA to be able to invest with local and state municipalities. … We’re not going to fail on the mission we have in front of us.”
The numbers are described as fluid: "CISA personnel figures are in a constant state of flux," the record notes, and the 2,200 figure Mullin cited was “down even from December.” Separately, in March acting director Nick Andersen said CISA was looking to hire 300 people, indicating active recruitment even as aggregate headcount has changed.
The Trump administration's proposed cuts and the fiscal 2027 blueprint
The hearing came amid an administration push to reduce CISA personnel. President Donald Trump has pushed to dramatically reduce personnel numbers at the agency, and has proposed "hundreds of millions more in cuts for fiscal 2027." Secretary Mullin acknowledged that DHS funding lapses have required the department to rethink CISA, while also noting that "the deep CISA personnel reductions predate the recent spate of government shutdowns."
Although the administration has discussed shifting cyber responsibilities to states, the record says there has been "no proposal from the Trump administration to-date to take funds formerly allocated to CISA and shift them to state governments for cybersecurity." State officials and many experts quoted in the reporting have said CISA budget cuts have made their jobs harder, and that the administration’s approach to shift cyber responsibilities to states is "badly misguided."
Congressional scrutiny: hearings, grants, and appropriations
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., pressed Mullin at the hearing about further proposed CISA budget cuts, saying he was "concerned" about personnel numbers, funding for education programs and whether the fiscal 2027 blueprint would "negatively impact those efforts." A House Appropriations subcommittee is set to consider a DHS funding bill Friday, making the immediate budget process a likely venue for resolving — or deepening — the gap between the administration’s proposals and lawmakers’ concerns.
Separately, Congress has yet to permanently reauthorize the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, which "expired last year before it got a temporary extension and is due to expire again in September." That looming expiration adds another scheduling pressure on lawmakers who must weigh CISA staffing, grant funding, and shifting program responsibilities.
CISA leadership, hiring, and authorities
The agency has operated without a Senate-confirmed director for the entirety of the second Trump administration, the reporting states. Secretary Mullin said "we've got a person soon to be nominated that will be running CISA that has the ability to recruit and focus on the authorities we have." Mullin argued CISA has "unique" authorities that haven't "been completely utilized," and insisted: "We want CISA to be the leader in cybersecurity. They should be and they will be."
That mix — active hiring statements from the acting director, a pending nomination for a permanent leader, and a declared target of 2,800 staff — frames the administration’s and DHS’s approach to stabilizing CISA even as budget proposals signal deeper cuts.
How state officials, Congress, and CISA operations are positioned
- State officials: State officials have said CISA budget cuts have made their jobs harder and would be watching grant availability and any administrative shift of responsibilities closely. The Secretary’s emphasis on using grants to invest with "local and state municipalities" signals an intent to lean on those programs if funding and authorities permit.
- Congress: Lawmakers are actively questioning the staffing targets and budget blueprint, with a House Appropriations subcommittee set to consider a DHS funding bill Friday and the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program due to expire again in September.
- CISA operations and leadership: The agency faces simultaneous pressures — staffing levels that have fallen from earlier peaks, active recruitment efforts (including plans to hire roughly 300 people reported in March), and the absence of a Senate-confirmed director until a nomination is submitted — all while senior DHS officials stress underused authorities and an ambition to make CISA "the leader in cybersecurity."
The immediate calendar frames the next steps: a pending nomination for CISA’s head, House appropriations activity this week, and a temporary grant program that will again lapse in September unless Congress acts. Those concrete deadlines will determine whether the administration’s staffing target, lawmakers’ concerns, and state officials’ needs converge toward a stable plan — or remain in tension.
