March 16, 2017–The Trump administration today submitted a preliminary 2018 budget to Congress that would provide the Department of Homeland with $1.5 billion to “protect federal networks and critical infrastructure from an attack.”  In 2017, DHS was authorized to spend about $1 billion on cybersecurity programs.

Much of the spending anticipated in 2018 would be for cyber threat information-sharing, according to the White House budget proposal.  “Through a suite of advanced cybersecurity tools and more assertive defense of government networks, DHS would share more cybersecurity incident information with other federal agencies and the private sector, leading to faster responses to cybersecurity attacks directed at federal networks and critical infrastructure,” it said.

The White House plans to issue a more detailed budget proposal in May.  “It is important to keep in mind that the President’s budget proposals are just the beginning of the negotiation process with Congress,” said Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

“As chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, I will work with the Trump administration and my colleagues to make sure our counterterrorism and cybersecurity programs, first responders, and those protecting our land, sea, and aviation sectors have the funds they need to defend our homeland and our citizens,” Rep. McCaul said in a statement.

The Trump administration today also issued an appropriations request for the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year that seeks increases of $30 billion for the Defense Department and $3 billion for DHS’s border security efforts.

The DoD request includes $7.2 billion “for operations and maintenance to address urgent readiness shortfalls across the joint force,” the White House said.  “These funds will also improve cyber and intelligence capabilities,” it said.

Another $2.1 billion for DoD would “accelerate priority research and development efforts, including ballistic missile and air defense, missile defeat, unmanned aircraft systems, next generation fighter aircraft, electronic warfare, anti-ship and land attack missiles, cyber operations technology, and targeting and strike support for special operations forces,” the White House said. – Tom Leithauser, tom.leithauser@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily