House Democrats want answers on CISA reassignments to border security, immigration roles

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem visits with officers at an ICE facility in Portland, Ore., to observe enforcement operations, Oct. 7, 2025. (DHS photo by Tia Dufour)

By David DiMolfetta and Edward Graham • Oct 21, 2025

A group of House Democrats is asking Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to explain why the Department of Homeland Security reassigned many of its cybersecurity staff to roles focused on Trump-era immigration and deportation work, as well as how those shifts impact U.S. cyberdefenses.

The Monday letter — led by Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., and also signed by Reps. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., Eugene Vindman, D-Va., and Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, along with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C. — argues that DHS violated the Antideficiency Act when it reassigned those Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency staff to roles within Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Protective Service and Customs and Border Protection.

The Antideficiency Act prohibits agencies from spending or obligating funding without congressional approval during a government shutdown. Amid the ongoing lapse in federal funding, the moves “raise serious concerns” about the Trump administration’s motives, the lawmakers say in the missive, which was first viewed by Nextgov/FCW.