The House Appropriations Committee spent July 13 marking up the fiscal year 2022 (FY2022) budgets for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DoD).
While the committee completed the markup and amendment process for the DHS Appropriations bill, the DoD budget was still being debated as of this evening.
CISA Funding Bump Intact
The DHS budget includes a 16 percent bump for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), with a funding level of $2.42 billion. While there was discord around funding for other DHS missions, there was broad consensus around the funding level for CISA.
“This bill responsibly funds the capabilities we need to address the many threats we face, upholding the values we so cherish, as a nation,” Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said today. “As the Colonial Pipeline has demonstrated, we need historic investments to protect our networks with $2.42 billion for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. This bill responds with the urgency necessary to meet the moment.”
Two amendments that failed to pass in committee and would have had tech implications were an amendment that would have made the e-verify program permanent and another to fund a 12th United States Coast Guard National Security Cutter vessel. The former failed amid dissent saying that the program should be handled by the Authorization Committee, and the latter failed as the opposition claimed the DHS budget requests the last two years have shown the ship to not be a priority.
Once the amendment process concluded, the bill was approved and advanced out of committee on a 33-24 vote. The committee will now have three days to adjust the bill and the committee report to the changes made today.
DoD Appropriations Markup Ongoing
The amendment process for the DoD appropriations bill is still in process, as of this evening, though it is expected to complete tonight.
The bill comes with a top-line number of $706 billion for the department in FY2022, including $110 billion for research and development and $10 million for an Army ROTC cyber program. The bill also includes language for civilian cyber workforce recruiting and cyber education initiatives suggested by the National Cyberspace Solarium.
“This bill will help align the department’s modernization efforts with the need to build a modern national security workforce,” Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Betty McCollum, D-Minn., said. “And that is required to keep our country safe. Whether it’s cyber or advanced manufacturing, clean energy, or, yes, even climate change. This bill will support high tech, high skilled workforce for the future.”
Members of the committee will be hard-pressed to pass this bill as well, as they have expressed concern that a continuing resolution would hamstring the DoD.
