WASHINGTON–The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), whose data security warnings are often monitored by credit unions, would have its funding slashed by $495 million to a $2.38 billion allocation in President Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal 2026.
“The falloff marks a stark reversal in budgetary trends for CISA, which saw its funding either climb or stay relatively flat over the past five years, from $2 billion in 2020 to almost $3 billion last year,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Journal said Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, has repeatedly said she wants CISA to focus more on its core mission of protecting critical infrastructure and civilian federal agencies, and has “criticized its past efforts in election security and monitoring disinformation.”
Programs Shuttered
The budget will reduce the number of employees in CISA’s election-security program and shutter the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which the agency funded, according to the Journal.
Along with funding cuts for various programs, the budget proposes a head-count reduction of approximately 1,000 positions, or around one-third of its workforce, the report added.
“CISA has braced for sweeping cuts since President Trump, who established the agency in 2018, returned to office,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “The Cyber Safety Review Board, a joint public-private committee set up to investigate significant cyber incidents, was dissolved in January.”
Criticism from Congress
The Journal stated that Democrats and some Republicans have criticized efforts to reduce CISA’s operations at a time when cyber threats are perceived to be at a record.
As is the case with funding credit unions are hoping to restore, such as for the CDFI Fund, the Journal said Congress will now debate the proposals in the wider budget, including the revised funding for CISA.
