At the Department of Homeland Security, where you stand at the end of 2025 depends on where you sit.

With the Trump administration emphasizing border security and mass deportations as top priorities, DHS components that work in those areas saw both major funding increases and workforce boosts.

Meanwhile, other DHS components were swept up in the administration’s workforce reduction efforts. Some of those components were also in the crosshairs of new political leadership for program and funding cuts.

The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” tax and reconciliation measure passed in July only deepened those differences.

The legislation provided billions in additional funding for select DHS components like Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, other offices such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have been hit by workforce reductions and funding cuts, ending support for programs and services like CISA’s Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

Workforce fluctuates

DHS is one of the only departments to gain a net increase in employees over the last two years, according to an analysis of agency shutdown contingency plans compiled by the Partnership for Public Service.

While most agencies saw staffing reductions driven by the Department of Government Efficiency, DHS’s workforce grew by 6%, to 271,927 employees listed in its 2025 contingency plan.

The Trump administration’s high-profile focus on immigration enforcement operations brings with it more funding and personnel for agencies like ICE and CBP. According to shutdown contingency plans, ICE’s workforce increased by more than 500 employees between June 2024 and September 2025. CBP’s workforce grew by more than 1,500 employees over the same period.

The Coast Guard’s workforce has swelled by nearly 2,000 as part of a recruiting campaign started by the Biden administration and further boosted under the Trump administration through the “Force Design 2028” initiative.

Many positions at DHS, including law enforcement positions, were exempt from workforce reduction efforts like deferred resignations and earlier retirements.

But some components, including CISA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, underwent stark staff reductions driven by program cuts and voluntary departures.

CISA’s workforce has dropped by nearly one-third, from 3,400 employees in June 2024 to 2,500 staff as of May 31, 2025, according to the contingency plans. More CISA employees may have departed since the latest tally.

FEMA, meanwhile, has seen the number of active employees decrease from roughly 25,800 at the start of the year to 23,350 as of June 1, according to the Government Accountability Office. That includes 24 FEMA senior executives, “widely respected agency leaders who departed voluntarily given the uncertainty around the agency’s future,” GAO noted.

The future of FEMA has been an open question as the Trump administration has targeted the agency for steep cuts. A FEMA Review Council set up by Trump was set to issue recommendations this month, but the White House indefinitely postponed the council’s final meeting.

The Trump administration has also proposed some cuts to the Transportation Security Administration. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is further moving to eliminate TSA employees’ collective bargaining rights.

‘Big bill’ brings big changes

Further changes are underway at DHS, largely thanks to the $165 billion included for the department in the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” That funding lasts through 2029 and is largely unspent.

It includes $4.1 billion for CBP to hire 5,000 customs officers and 3,000 border patrol agents over the next four years, and $8 billion for ICE to hire 10,000 new officers. DHS says ICE has already reached that goal as 2025 comes to a close.

The bill also includes billions in funding for new immigration detention facilities, border security infrastructure, training facilities, vehicles, Coast Guard ships and more.

Industry will be watching closely as DHS’s spend plans for the reconciliation bill come together.

Senior leaders

With Year 1 of the second Trump administration nearly complete, many presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed positions at DHS remain vacant or filled by acting personnel. Trump has yet to nominate a FEMA administrator, a TSA administrator or a DHS under secretary for management, among other positions.

Meanwhile, Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar will soon depart DHS after being nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador. The administration has not yet named a replacement.

CISA has been without a permanent director since January. Sean Plankey was nominated to serve as CISA director in March, but his nomination has been held up in the Senate over multiple issues unrelated to concerns about his appointment.

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