Ongoing Government Shutdown Impacting CISA
WASHINGTON — The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will see permanent reductions due to the ongoing partial government shutdown, as reported.
The reduction in force (RIF), which started on Friday, is expected to affect CISA’s workforce of 2,540 employees, along with numerous others in the federal government. This action follows President Trump’s threats to target agencies favored by Democrats if they do not agree to reopen the government.
CISA planned to furlough a staggering 65% of its staff, leaving only about 889 employees working during the shutdown. That’s quite a significant cut, highlighting the severity of the situation.
It’s worth noting that CISA is part of the Department of Homeland Security. The agency, previously led by Chris Krebs during Trump’s first term, refuted allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election and criticized the president’s stance against mail-in voting, asserting it was the “most secure in American history.” An administration official even accused CISA of spreading “disinformation.”
Each day of the shutdown, up to 750,000 federal workers are being furloughed, some facing the risk of permanent layoffs as sought by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). To put it in context, roughly 2 million individuals are employed by the federal government, not counting the military and postal service.
Multiple departments, it seems, are experiencing “significant” layoffs as the shutdown reaches its tenth day.
On another note, Senate Democrats are leveraging the standoff to push for an extension of Obamacare health subsidies for about 22 million people as they near their expiration on December 31st. While some Republicans are open to this extension, the party’s leaders favor passing a seven-week interim funding bill first.
However, Republicans are against a Democratic proposal that would reinstate nearly $200 billion over ten years, which includes asylum seeker subsidies and payment provisions for illegal immigrants.
On Friday, White House budget director Russ Vought confirmed that permanent cuts have commenced at federal agencies, prompted by Senate Democrats blocking efforts to reopen the government, with only three of them supporting the Republicans.
“RIF has started,” Mr. Vought tweeted.
