As America’s Infrastructure Faces Cyber Threats, Walkinshaw, Thompson, Ramirez Push for Independent Review of CISA Workforce Cuts
(WASHINGTON) – Congressman James R. Walkinshaw (D-VA) a member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, called on the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to independently examine the impact of recent workforce reductions and program cuts on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s ability to meet its mission requirements such as defending the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber-attacks.
The push comes as cyber and physical threats increasingly target hospitals, financial networks, water treatment facilities, energy systems, and other infrastructure Americans rely on every day.
“At precisely the moment when our adversaries are accelerating attacks against critical infrastructure, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the nation’s lead civilian cyber defense agency, has lost nearly one-third of its workforce, raising serious concerns about the agency’s ability to fulfill its mission,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Given these concerns, we respectfully request that the Government Accountability Office examine the impact of recent staffing reductions and programmatic cuts at CISA on the agency’s ability to carry out its mission requirements, protect critical infrastructure, and respond to evolving cyber and physical threats.”
By mid-2025, nearly 1,000 CISA employees, roughly one-third of the agency’s workforce, had left or been removed from active service. CISA has since announced plans to hire more than 300 employees to rebuild its depleted workforce and address critical staffing gaps. Yet the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal would eliminate nearly 900 additional positions, potentially compounding the loss of personnel and expertise at the agency responsible for leading the nation’s civilian cyber defense.
The lawmakers called on GAO to examine:
- How CISA’s workforce, including its use of contractors, has changed over the past five years
- How workforce reductions have affected CISA’s programs and critical-infrastructure stakeholders
- What data CISA uses to guide workforce planning and align resources with agency priorities
- Whether CISA’s human-capital strategy meets its current and future mission requirements.
“Little is known about the impact of these workforce reductions on CISA’s programs and services or what processes and plans the agency has in place to ensure the agency is hiring the right people to address lost skill sets and meet mission demands,” the lawmakers added.
Congressman Seth Magaziner (D-RI) and Congresswoman LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), members of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, also joined the push for an independent GAO review.
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