U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin arrives to testify before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of Homeland Security in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on June 2, 2026. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
He told lawmakers that he wants approximately 600 more people than it has now, which would still be well below personnel numbers prior to Trump’s second term.
Sean Plankey, of Pennsylvania, responds to questioning during Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearings to examine his nomination to be Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, of the Department of Homeland Security, in the Dirksen Senate office building, in Washington, DC, on Wednesday July 24, 2025. (Mattie Neretin/CNP/Sipa USA)
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., leaves after a meeting on AI at the Kennedy Caucus Room at Russell Senate Office Building on Nov. 1, 2023 on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Sean Plankey, of Pennsylvania, responds to questioning during Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearings to examine his nomination to be Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, of the Department of Homeland Security, in the Dirksen Senate office building, in Washington, DC, on Wednesday July 24, 2025. (Mattie Neretin/CNP/Sipa USA)