Fighting Terror: Administration's Budget Slashes Counterterrorism Programs as Attacks Continue to Increase Abroad

Publication

Fighting Terror: Administration's Budget Slashes Counterterrorism Programs as Attacks Continue to Increase Abroad

Abstract

At the request of Senator Claire McCaskill, the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs examined the impacts of potential cuts to counterterrorism programs. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for advancing critical federal efforts to prevent and mitigate terror threats in the United States. DHS administers programs that assist state and local government's and other interested stakeholders in preventing and responding to terror threats and incidents. Although the Trump administration proposed an overall increase in the budget of DHS by $4.7 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, or 7.1 percent, numerous critical programs that mitigate terror threats are cut dramatically. After much investigation, it was concluded by the Committee that DHS is responsible for advancing critical federal efforts to prevent and mitigate terror threats in the United States. Budgetary cuts of this magnitude to a variety of important counterterrorism efforts will have significant negative impacts.