The House Appropriations Homeland Security subcommittee on Wednesday approved by voice vote its proposed $52.8 billion discretionary spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security, a measure that would add $387.3 million to the Biden administration’s request for fiscal year 2022 that begins on October 1.
The subcommittee’s recommendation will be marked up by the full committee on July 13.
The markup has bipartisan support in a number of areas, including proposed funding for the Coast Guard, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Secret Service, and science and technology.
However, the bill lacks complete bipartisan support due to differences over border security and immigration.
“The proposed investments are worthy of our support,” Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), the ranking member on the subcommittee, said about the areas of bipartisan agreement during the markup. “However, in order to get truly to the finish line, we must come to a reasonable agreement on the immigration issues and until that is done, I respectfully cannot support the bill in its current form.”
The committee on Tuesday released a summary of the proposed DHS funding levels, with Customs and Border Protection taking the most significant hit versus the request to pay for increases elsewhere. The markup would provide $14.1 billion for CBP, $456 million below the request, and includes no funding for additional Border Patrol agents or border wall construction, a Republican priority that was championed by the former Trump administration. The funding proposal for CBP is $927 million below the enacted level for FY ’21.
The bill would also rescind $2.1 billion in prior year funding for the border wall.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement takes a slight hit in the bill versus the request. The bill proposes $7.9 billion for the agency, $1.6 billion less than Congress enacted in FY ’21 but just $19.5 million below the request for FY ’22.
The committee is proposing $13.2 billion for the Coast Guard, $301.3 million more than requested, $8.6 billion for TSA, level with FY ’21 and equal to the request, $2.4 billion for CISA, $288.7 million above the request, $830.4 million for the Science and Technology branch, $7.5 million more than requested, $437.5 million for the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, $10 million above the request, and $2.4 billion for the Management directorate, $123.9 million more than requested.