Schumer’s formal request to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin
In a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Schumer pressed the department to produce an updated plan by July 1 detailing how it will coordinate with state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments as artificial intelligence models change the cyber threat landscape. The senator urged DHS to ensure SLTT entities “aren’t left behind” as AI models advance and enable new hacking techniques.
Specific items Schumer wants answered in the July 1 plan
Schumer asked DHS to address a range of operational questions in the requested plan. He named three concrete topics the department should cover: how to identify top AI talent, how to carry out rapid patching, and how to conduct risk assessments for AI-enabled threats. The letter frames these as necessary processes to reduce the risk of “disruptive cyberattacks enabled by frontier AI.”
Concerns about DHS/CISA capacity: funding and leadership
The senator explicitly raised doubts about the ability of DHS and its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to execute the coordination he seeks. Schumer pointed to federal funding cuts to the Multistate Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) and noted the absence of a Senate-confirmed CISA director “for the duration of the second Trump administration” as factors that worry him about the agencies’ capacity to carry out sustained SLTT coordination.
Targets Schumer singled out — and the urgency he attached
Schumer framed his request around critical systems he said could be at risk if coordination lapses. He warned that “hospitals, power grids, water systems, schools, elections, and emergency services cannot be left exposed,” arguing that criminal gangs and state-backed hackers may race to exploit new AI tools. He also noted reports that the White House has begun hosting meetings about its internal security priorities following what the letter described as “frontier AI cyber breakthroughs,” using that reporting to underline the pace of change.
How technologists, policymakers, and SLTT governments are implicated
- Technologists and security teams: The letter’s concrete asks — identifying top AI talent, rapid patching, and risk assessments — put operational demands on technical staff. Schumer’s note that CISA is using AI defensively “internally,” according to agency officials, highlights a parallel: agencies are already experimenting with AI on the defensive side even as they are asked to help others respond externally.
- Policymakers and agency leaders: Schumer’s focus on MS-ISAC funding cuts and the lack of a Senate-confirmed CISA director places institutional capacity and resource allocation squarely in the policy debate. The July 1 deadline is a clear near-term demand for a paper that must reconcile strategic priorities with constrained resources, as described in the letter.
- State, local, tribal and territorial governments: The senator’s core message is that SLTT entities must be included in national efforts. Schumer asked DHS to ensure those governments get assistance to “find and fix vulnerabilities before Americans are hit with outages, disruptions, and attacks,” highlighting operational support as the central need.
The senator’s request draws a direct line between rapidly advancing AI capabilities and practical gaps in coordination, resources, and leadership. With a July 1 deadline, the immediate measure of progress will be whether DHS produces the detailed coordination plan Schumer demands and whether that plan addresses funding, staffing, and the operational steps he enumerated. The agency’s response — and whether it will propose remedies for MS-ISAC funding shortfalls and for CISA leadership continuity — will determine whether the gap Schumer warns about narrows or persists.
