The Other Hollowing

Kudos to Homeland Security Today for reporting on a quieter, but highly worrisome, hollowing of our security capabilities taking place alongside that being forced onto our armed forces.

While analysts and policymakers are rightfully raising the alarm about the President’s FY 2015 defense budget, and the extent to which its massive cuts are jeopardizing national security, comparatively little has been said about the proposed FY 2015 cuts to the Department of Homeland Security.

HS Today recently reported on what the Government Accountability Office had to say regarding what sequestration has already wrought at DHS:

Although the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had implemented cost savings initiatives — including a department-wide efficiency review — prior to fiscal year 2013 that helped it “to assuage” some of the effects of sequestration in fiscal year 2013, sequestration nevertheless took a toll on the operations of numerous DHS components, according to a 224-page report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

For example, GAO said, from fiscal years 2012 to 2013, the US Coast Guard conducted about 29 percent fewer migrant interdictions at sea; seized 24 percent fewer pounds of drugs; and boarded and inspected about 6,000 fewer vessels.

DHS’s Budget Office reported that with a $295 million reduction in funding for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency “had to implement reductions in training, contracts and other operating expenses” to meet its legislatively mandated level of beds for 34,000 detainees in fiscal year 2013.

The GAO report goes on, according to HS Today:

“Further,” GAO said, “an official from Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Training and Development stated that, in response to sequestration, CBP canceled training classes in fiscal year 2013, including those related to detecting potential terrorists and high-risk air cargo, identifying weapons of mass effect in the land border environment and managing critical incident response.”

Officials stressed to GAO that “the effect of canceled training classes may not be felt for several years. For example, these officials expressed concerns about how effectively the workforce will be able to respond to future mission critical needs.”

These problems are sure to be compounded by the Obama administration’s proposed $7 billion decrease in DHS funding compared to the previous fiscal year.  HS Today highlights, in a separate report, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul’s concerns:

But as House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) swiftly cautioned in a statement,“The President’s budget again shows that his priorities do not match up with the American people’s.”

“Ultimately,” he chastised, “this proposal increases fees to taxpayers, travelers and businesses while decreasing the overall budget for securing the homeland. This means the American people will pay more out of pocket while the department cuts key security programs such as those to detain criminals and conduct aerial patrols of the border.”

McCaul said “Americans know the borders are not secure and yet the Administration is aiming to decrease funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement by almost $250 million – including the reduction of detention beds by almost 3,500 – and wants to cut the US Coast Guard by more than $300 million, resulting in fewer ships interdicting drugs and potential criminals bound for the United States.”