WASHINGTON — A partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has raised concerns about the U.S. government's ability to counter potential cyberattacks amid the ongoing conflict with Iran, officials and lawmakers said.
The funding lapse for the department, now in its seventh week, has led to the furlough of a significant portion of staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the lead federal agency for civilian cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection. Senate appropriations leaders reported that around 60% of CISA employees have been furloughed as of late March, according to data shared with Congress.
CISA has scaled back or canceled proactive cybersecurity assessments and vulnerability scans for critical infrastructure sectors, including energy, as a result of the staffing reductions, according to agency statements and congressional briefings. Mission-essential defensive operations continue, but non-essential activities have been curtailed.
The concerns have intensified following U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iranian targets that began in late February. Iran has a history of using cyber operations in response to military actions, with experts warning of possible retaliatory activity such as website defacements or distributed denial-of-service attacks targeting U.S. infrastructure.
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, highlighted the risks in recent statements, noting the reduced capacity at CISA during a period of elevated threats. A former senior CISA official told reporters that the slowdown in proactive services could widen risk exposure over time for government networks and privately operated critical infrastructure.
CISA acting leadership has not issued a new public threat advisory specifically tied to the Iran conflict in recent weeks. Details on the exact number of attempted Iran-linked cyber incidents detected since the strikes remain unclear.
The White House and congressional Republicans have urged Democrats to support full funding for DHS, citing national security needs. Democrats have pushed for certain policy adjustments in funding measures, leading to repeated impasses. The shutdown began on Feb. 14 after Congress failed to pass appropriations legislation.
House Republicans passed a short-term funding bill for DHS last week, but the measure faces challenges in the Senate, which is currently in recess. No agreement has been reached as of Tuesday.
As of March 31, the partial shutdown continued, with TSA operations and other essential DHS functions affected by unpaid staff and reduced resources. Further details on when full operations might resume were not immediately available.
