Cybersecurity Policy Report, CISA Would Reopen Under Spending Bill Offered in House, (Mar 2, 2026)
Legislation that would reopen the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is scheduled to be considered tomorrow by the House Rules Committee.
The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 7744, 119th Cong. (2026)) would provide $2.6 billion for CISA’s fiscal year 2026 expenses, the same amount proposed in a previous spending bill (CPR, Jan. 23). It would enable CISA and DHS to reopen after an 18-day funding lapse.
CISA shut down on Feb. 13 after Congress failed to reach consensus on appropriations legislation that would have kept the agency open (CPR, Feb. 13).
Congress was set to approve DHS appropriations along with other federal departments in January. But DHS’s immigration enforcement tactics, including the shooting deaths of two people in Minneapolis, led Democrats to demand changes in the DHS spending bill.
DHS was the only department that had to shut down. CISA had to furlough 1,453 personnel, leaving 888 to perform essential functions. Some cybersecurity programs, including the cyber threat information-sharing provisions of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, were extended through Sept. 30 under separate spending bills.
If the Rules Committee adopts HR 7744, which is sponsored by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R., Okla.), it would advance to the House floor. The committee is set to meet at 4 p.m. in Room H-313 of the Capitol.
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