Oversight Hearing – The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
House Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security
2025-05-08
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Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
Madam Director, Madam Ranking Member, it's no surprise to anybody that we've got votes scheduled in about an hour, so we are going to endeavor to be crisp. I'm not going to waste a bunch of time telling you how we're going to do that, just to say that we are reducing the amount of time for questioning for members to four minutes. I was going to do it for three, but Ms. Underwood basically bullied me into four, and so I got bullied, and so it's four. When we get to the hearing, I'm not going to adjourn and come back after votes. We're going to adjourn. If members have questions that they wanted to ask of the cybersecurity folks that they didn't get asked and they don't feel good about submitting them in writing, then let us know and we'll talk about maybe trying to convene another hearing before marking up the cybersecurity part of things.
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Bridget Bean
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Unknown (SPEAKER_00)
Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing to conduct oversight of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. I'd also like to welcome Ms. Bridget Bean, the senior official performing the duties of director of CISA, to her first hearing before us. CISA is not a large organization, but Congress fought over the years to properly fund the critical responsibilities of your agency, growing its funding by 75% from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2024. Remarkably, these increases have consistently been with bipartisan support. I don't need to tell you how rare that is these days, and I believe it reflects the scale of the catastrophic cyber threats facing our country, as well as the quality of resources and support that CISA provides. But instead of investing in this popular, nimble, and cost-efficient agency that protects nearly every aspect of Americans' lives, you are proposing an almost 20% cut to CISA, $491 million, and driving out the workforce through early retirement buyouts and questionable terminations. That's not cutting fat. That's a death blow.
This reduction in force is not based on performance, but on things in CISA's congressionally mandated mission that the president is offended by. like securing America's elections from foreign adversaries like Russia. These are real threats. I represent Illinois, and during the 2016 elections, Russian hackers penetrated the State Board of Elections voter registration database, stealing the personal data of about 76,000 Illinois voters. CISA was created to protect the nation's critical infrastructure from physical and cyber threats, which includes election infrastructure. Therefore, you cannot claim to be refocusing on core missions like enhancing the security and resilience of critical infrastructure while also eliminating election security support and staff. Unfortunately, CISA is not the only area suffering as this administration weakens our nation's cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Cabinet secretaries are putting American lives at risk by avoiding secure communications. The FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force has been disbanded. the head of U.S. Cyber Command has been fired with no replacement. This is all happening at a time when national security and cybersecurity experts have urged greater investments in cyber defense and offense, particularly as cyber crime proliferates and China and Russia have sought to interfere with our economy, our elections, our healthcare systems, and our security. Our adversaries are upping their game every day, growing significantly while this budget would take us backwards. These aren't hypothetical threats. China is ramping up attacks on our telecommunications and energy sectors. Schools and hospitals in my district have had to close after ransomware attacks. So my question is why? Why is this administration so determined to degrade the core cyber defenses that keep America safe? Is it to privatize CISA functions so that the tech CEOs who sat front row at President Trump's inauguration can profit off of them and lock small competitors out? Is it to let Putin and his cronies around the world who support the President interfere in our elections?
Is it to make government services more difficult and frustrating to access so Americans will support your efforts to dismantle them? Is it being driven by some ask from anonymous investors in the President's crypto scheme? I don't know the answer. But what I do know is that this committee will continue to fulfill our Article I responsibilities under the Constitution, regardless of the chaos and corruption of this administration. We will have questions for you today on your plans to improve the core functions of CISA, fulfill the mission that Congress designated, and expand much needed capabilities with the reduction in staff and resources you are requesting in this budget. Lastly, I'd like to thank the women and men of CISA working 24-7 to combat threats facing our nation's networks, critical infrastructure, elections, emergency communications, schools, hospitals, and public gatherings while a new administration creates job uncertainty and the fear of politically motivated reprisal. Thank you again, Ms. Bean, for being here today, and I look forward to your testimony and answers to our questions.
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Unknown (SPEAKER_09)
I yield back. Thank you, ma'am. So between the two of us, with your statement, our average is pretty good. We're ahead of schedule. I think we're doing great. Madam Director, the floor is yours. Good morning.
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