Sen. Murphy: Trump administration has ‘illegally gutted funding for cybersecurity’

Another top appropriations Democrat criticized budget cuts affecting the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, saying the Trump administration has “illegally gutted funding for cybersecurity.”

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, made his remarks Thursday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a hearing on the administration’s fiscal 2026 budget. He said the CISA funding cuts were paying for the administration’s focus on the border, and violated congressional mandates on how to spend appropriated dollars.

“As we speak, Russian and Chinese hackers are having a field day hacking our nation,” Murphy said. CISA has already forced out some personnel under Trump and more cuts may be looming even before the proposed fiscal 2026 $491 million funding reduction.

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