Swalwell seeks answers from CISA on workforce cuts

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., sent a letter Tuesday to acting CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala raising concerns about staffing levels and the direction of the nation’s primary cybersecurity agency, writing that the “Trump Administration has undertaken multiple efforts to decimate CISA’s workforce, undermining our nation’s cybersecurity.”

Swalwell, the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, called out the agency for its reported shift of cybersecurity personnel to the Department of Homeland Security’s deportation efforts, on top of the approximately 760 people that have been let go from the agency since January. 

“Amid reports that the Department of Homeland Security is now forcibly transferring CISA’s cybersecurity employees to other DHS components, it has become apparent that the Department’s exclusive focus on its mass deportation campaign is coming at the expense of our national security,” Swalwell writes. “As further evidence of the Administration’s failure to prioritize cybersecurity, CISA is now engaging in Reductions in Force (RIFs) that threaten CISA’s capacity to prevent and respond to cybersecurity threats. I demand you immediately cease all efforts to cut CISA’s workforce, reinstate employees who were transferred or dismissed, and provide details on the impacts of the agency’s workforce reductions.“

The letter is not the first time Swalwell has asked for information about CISA’s workforce. In April, he asked the agency to brief the subcommittee on its workforce plans. He wrote in Tuesday’s letter he had not heard back from CISA. 

Further in the letter, Swalwell says shifting CISA personnel to deportation efforts takes away from the agency’s core mission at a time of “unprecedented cybersecurity threats,” pointing to the emergency directive issued last month about an ongoing and widespread attack spree affecting Cisco firewalls. He also questions CISA’s ability to leverage third-party expertise, given the agency’s September termination of its agreement with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center — a partnership previously underpinned by $27 million in federal funding for fiscal year 2025. 

“In order to combat these threats, CISA needs to have sufficient personnel to carry out its mission, particularly at a time when canceled contracts and cooperative agreements have left CISA without critical third-party support,” Swalwell writes. 

A CISA spokesperson was unavailable for comment due to the government shutdown. 

You can read the full letter below.