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Committee Releases FY25 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill

June 3, 2024

Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Appropriations Committee released the Fiscal Year 2025 bill for the Homeland Security Subcommittee. The bill will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow, June 4th at 8:30 a.m. The markup will be live-streamed and can be found on the Committee’s website.

Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman Mark Amodei (R-NV) said, “The top priority of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is to protect the American people, and this legislation provides the necessary resources for the hardworking men and women of DHS to keep our country safe and secure. What’s happening at our southern border is dangerous, inhumane, and untenable, and this bill invests in a top-down approach to secure our nation, deter illegal immigration, and prevent the flow of drugs into our country. I look forward to getting this bill across the finish line and thank Chairman Cole for his leadership.”

Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) said, “Keeping Americans safe and secure is our utmost responsibility. This bill supports the brave men and women who help safeguard our nation each day and bolsters port, maritime, aviation, and cyber security. It also directly targets the Biden Administration’s neglect of the chaos at our southern border. Our frontline Border Patrol agents are sustained at their highest level ever—and we prioritized resources to build the wall, remove dangerous criminals, and counter the spread of poisonous fentanyl. Chairman Amodei ensured every taxpayer dollar is directed to protect our communities and secure our borders.”

Fiscal Year 2025 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill

The Homeland Security Bill provides a total discretionary allocation of $64.81 billion. The defense portion of the allocation is $3.41 billion, which is $82 million (2.41%) above the Fiscal Year 2024 enacted level. The non-defense portion of the allocation is $61.39 billion, which is $2.88 billion (4.92%) above the FY24 enacted level and $4.27 billion (7.48%) above the President’s Budget Request. 

The bill utilizes $6.12 billion in discretionary appropriations offset by fee collections and $22.74 billion as an allocation adjustment for major disaster response and recovery activities.

Key Takeaways

  • Secures our southern border by: 
    • Providing $600 million for construction of the southern border wall.
    • Forcing Secretary Mayorkas to adhere to the law and build physical barriers immediately.
    • Ensuring wall funding can only be used to build physical barriers by attaching stricter conditions and shorter timelines to put the funds on contract.
    • Sustaining funding for 22,000 Border Patrol agents.
    • Providing $300 million for border security technology.
  • Removes dangerous criminals by:
    • Providing $4.1 billion for custody operations, which is more than ever previously appropriated, to fund an average daily ICE detainee population of 50,000.
    • Providing $822 million to fund transportation and removal operations for removable aliens.
  • Counters China and bolsters national security by:
    • Providing $335 million to procure four additional Coast Guard Fast Response Cutters.
    • Providing $60 million for a service life extension to enable the Coast Guard to deploy another Medium Endurance Cutter to the Indo-Pacific. 
    • Providing $4.2 million for increased maritime engagements with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific. 
    • Encouraging federal, state, local, and private sector partners to replace communications technology from companies designated as a national security risk. 
  • Focuses the Department on its core responsibilities by: 
    • Preventing the Department from carrying out its equity action plan or advancing critical race theory. 
    • Rejecting funding for electric vehicles and related infrastructure, saving $30 million.
    • Preventing the consolidation of the Department’s Headquarters, saving $186.7 million.
    • Rejecting funding requested by the Biden Administration that encourages more illegal migration, such as:
      • The Shelter and Services Program for migrants, $650 million less than the Fiscal Year 2024 enacted level.
      • The Case Management Pilot Program for migrants, $20 million less than the Fiscal Year 2024 enacted level.
    • Eliminating the duplicative Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, saving $28.6 million from the Fiscal Year 2024 enacted level.
    • Excluding the Administration’s $4.7 billion southwest border contingency slush fund that would provide funds to process and release more aliens into the country. 
  • Supports American values and principles by:
    • Prohibiting the government from labeling Americans’ constitutionally protected speech as “misinformation” and imposing a penalty of termination for such action.
    • Prohibiting funding for providing or facilitating abortions for ICE detainees. 
    • Prohibiting gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy and surgery, for ICE detainees. 

A summary of the bill is available here.

Bill text is available here.

 

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