US President Donald Trump has proposed another reduction in funding for America’s cybersecurity watchdog, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The Trump administration has justified this reduction, citing concerns over CISA’s performance and priorities. In his fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, released last week, Trump has suggested cutting $707 million from the agency’s budget, saying it is not focused enough on its core responsibilities.According to the proposed budget, CISA is “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 plan aims to “refocus CISA on its core mission,” following earlier funding reductions and workforce cuts during Trump’s second term, when the agency lost about a third of its staff.The move continues a pattern from previous budgets, including the 2026 proposal that also sought cuts, and reflects ongoing criticism from Trump and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over CISA’s role in tackling online disinformation, particularly around election security.
What White House’s latest budget proposed about CISA reductions
Trump’s 2027 budget plan says it will “refocus” CISA by “removing offices that are duplicative of existing and effective programs at the State and Federal level, such as certain targeted school safety programs.”The proposal also seeks to eliminate “programs focused on so-called misinformation and propaganda as well as external engagement offices such as council management, stakeholder engagement, and international affairs. These programs and offices were used as a key hub in the Censorship Industrial Complex to violate the First Amendment, target Americans for their protected speech, and target the President.”However, several of these programs had already been removed during the first year of Trump’s second term. On his first day back in office, he shut down the Cyber Safety Review Board, which had been investigating how China-linked Salt Typhoon breached US government and telecom networks, along with other advisory bodies under the Department of Homeland Security.These included the Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board, the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council, the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, and the US Secret Service Cyber Investigations Advisory Board.In March 2025, CISA reduced $10 million in funding, which is nearly half the budget for the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), which provides cybersecurity support to state and local governments. Six months later, the agency also ended its relationship and funding for the Center for Internet Security, a nonprofit offering similar services.Commenting on the budget proposal, a former CISA official, speaking anonymously, told The Register, “removes functions that are integral to how CISA carries out its mission.”“Managing cyber risk to critical infrastructure requires coordination across federal agencies, [State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial] governments, private operators, and international partners. The offices targeted here enable that coordination by supporting shared awareness, early warning, and aligned response. Eliminating external engagement and international functions will further degrade that coordination,” the former official said.Adding that the proposal could affect national cybersecurity efforts, the ex-CISA official added, “If enacted, this would weaken the system for managing cyber risk, increasing the likelihood that preventable incidents escalate into disruptions affecting critical infrastructure and the services Americans depend on.”
