Comparing DHS Component Funding, FY2020: In Brief

Comparing DHS Component Funding, FY2020: In Brief

Comparing DHS Component Funding, FY2020: In Brief

Updated January 3, 2020 (R45972)

The homeland security appropriations bill includes all annual appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), providing resources to every departmental component.¹ This report reviews the budget authority provided to DHS for FY2019² and requested by the Trump Administration for FY2020, as well as the funding levels proposed by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees in their reported legislation for FY2020 and ultimately enacted in P.L. 116-93, Division D. In the process, it also includes information on DHS funding from two enacted FY2019 supplemental appropriations measures: P.L. 116-20, a disaster relief supplemental; and P.L. 116-26, a supplemental appropriations bill funding humanitarian and security operations at the U.S.-Mexico border. The report provides a look at the resources available to DHS components that are described in appropriations committee reports, and examines "net discretionary annual appropriations" for DHS—a perspective on the net impact of legislation funding DHS on congressionally tracked budget totals.

DHS Budgetary Resources: Looking Beyond the Score

Discussion regarding annual appropriations often centers on the appropriations provided in the bill or how the bill scores against budget limitations. However, these discussions do not represent the total budget authority provided to DHS, or controlled through appropriations bills and reports.

The use of offsetting collections reduces the score of the bill and provides significant resources to some components of DHS, such as the Transportation Security Administration.

Discretionary scores of bills do not include mandatory spending, resources derived directly from fee collections without annual congressional action, or resources covered by adjustments to the discretionary spending limits.³

Congress controls the reprogramming of many of these resources through detail tables provided at the end of appropriations committee reports, conference reports, and statements of managers.

Figure 1 uses the data drawn from these detail tables to provide a more comprehensive picture of the resources available to seven DHS components:⁴ U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Secret Service (USSS), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). These are the seven largest components of DHS in terms of net discretionary budget authority.

In Figure 1, these seven components are listed along the bottom axis. Each component's funding level as a section of the figure has four bars, representing the different phases of the appropriations process: prior-year (i.e., FY2019) enacted, current year (i.e., FY2020) requested annual appropriations, and House and Senate appropriations committee action. The bottom segment of each bar represents net discretionary budget authority.

On top of these bases are several other segment types, representing fee revenues, offsetting collections, mandatory spending,⁵ funding from unobligated balances directed by the appropriations measure, and funding covered by adjustments to discretionary spending limits under the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; P.L. 112-25) in annual appropriations.⁶

Figure 1 allows for a visual comparison of changes in individual component funding and provides a more complete description of each component's overall resource level than a review of net discretionary appropriations. Among the changes it illuminates are

the ongoing efforts by the Administration to increase funding for border barriers (through CBP) and immigration enforcement (through ICE), seen in the FY2020 request, as well as the differing responses of the House and Senate appropriations committees;

the relative size of the investment in the costs of major disasters (FEMA), compared to other elements of the DHS budget;

the House and Senate appropriations committees' increase in funding for cybersecurity (CISA) and rejection of proposed cuts to the USCG;

the shift of the Federal Protective Service from CISA to the Management Directorate (the latter agency does not appear on Figure 1); and

an increase in discretionary spending to support the TSA's budget in the absence of the Trump Administration's proposed fee increase.

One may also note the relatively low level of supplemental funding for FEMA in FY2019 (and thus far for FY2020), due in part to the high levels of disaster relief-designated funding in the annual appropriations process to meet the needs of ongoing disaster recovery across the country.

Figure 1. Department of Homeland Security Budget Authority by Selected Component, FY2019-FY2020

Source: CRS analysis of H.Rept. 116-9, P.L. 116-20, P.L. 116-26, H.Rept. 116-180, S.Rept. 116-125, P.L. 116-93, and the funding tables of the explanatory statement as printed in Book II of the December 17, 2019, Congressional Record, pp. H11024-11060.

Notes: Totals do not reflect the impact of rescissions.

Table 1 provides a complete breakdown of the total budget authority outlined in Figure 1 for all DHS components, arranged by FY2019 enacted net discretionary budget authority.

Table 1. Department of Homeland Security Budget Authority by Selected Component, FY2019-FY2020

(thousands of dollars of budget authority controlled for reprogramming through appropriations committee reports)

FY2019

FY2020

Component

Funding Aspect

Enacted

Request

HAC-reported

SAC-reported

Enacted

Customs and Border Protection

18,396,681

20,847,914

16,525,128

20,613,714

17,411,298

Net Discretionary Funding

14,959,548

18,191,683

13,868,897

18,118,283

14,682,867a

Offsetting Collections

39,000

39,000

39,000

39,000

39,000

Fees

2,297,702

2,617,231

2,617,231

2,456,431

2,456,431

Emergency Supplemental (P.L. 116-26)

1,100,431

0

0

0

0

U.S. Coast Guard

12,541,653

11,119,416

12,013,363

11,632,337

11,966,124

Net Discretionary

10,111,077

9,317,107

10,211,054

9,640,028

9,973,815

Mandatoryb

1,739,844

1,802,309

1,802,309

1,802,309

1,802,309

Budget Control Act Adjustment (OCO)

165,000

0

0

190,000

190,000

Emergency Supplemental (P.L. 116-20)

525,732

0

0

0

0

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

8,114,657

9,308,595

8,377,087

8,687,311

8,399,871

Net Discretionary

7,587,712

8,781,195

8,057,287

8,367,511

8,080,071

Fees

318,000

527,400

319,800

319,800

319,800

Emergency Supplemental (P.L. 116-26)

208,945

0

0

0

0

Transportation Security Administration

8,090,347

7,785,634

8,366,605

8,210,160

8,300,481

Net Discretionary

4,930,462

3,918,720

5,049,691

4,893,246

4,983,567

Offsetting Collections

2,670,000

3,380,000

2,830,000

2,830,000

2,830,000

Fees

239,885

236,914

236,914

236,914

236,914

Mandatory

250,000

250,000

250,000

250,000

250,000

Federal Emergency Management Agency

17,124,786

18,463,731

19,400,694

22,235,915

22,557,700

Net Discretionary

4,592,633c

4,182,565

4,862,528c

4,427,749

4,965,176d

Funded From Prior-Year Unobligated Balances

300,000

0

257,000

250,000

0

Offsetting Collections

202,153

206,166

206,166

206,166

240,412e

BCA Adjustment (Disaster Relief)

12,000,000

14,075,000

14,075,000

17,352,000

17,352,112

Emergency Supplemental (P.L. 116-26)

30,000

0

0

0

0

U.S. Secret Service

2,248,159

2,308,977

2,447,748

2,349,354

2,415,845

Net Discretionary

2,248,159

2,308,977

2,447,748

2,349,354

2,415,845

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Protection Agency

3,208,867

3,176,150

2,016,212

2,017,400

2,015,622

Net Discretionary

1,681,757

1,608,150

2,016,212

2,017,400

2,015,622

Offsetting Collections

1,527,110

1,568,000

0

0

0

Management Directorate

1,313,302

1,557,288

3,143,906

2,775,581

3,123,370

Net Discretionary

1,313,302

1,557,288

1,575,906

1,215,651

1,563,440

Offsetting Collections

0

0

1,568,000

1,559,930

1,559,930

Science and Technology Directorate

819,785

582,117

665,680

710,403

737,275

Net Discretionary

819,785

582,117

665,680

710,403

737,275

Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction

434,897

423,158

434,952

424,658

432,299

Net Discretionary

434,897

423,158

434,952

424,658

432,299

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

328,819

350,935

368,091

350,935

351,170

Net Discretionary

328,819

350,935

368,091

350,935

351,170

Analysis and Operations

253,253

276,641

276,641

276,641

284,141

Net Discretionary

253,253

276,641

276,641

276,641

284,141

Office of the Inspector General

168,000

170,186

195,242

170,186

190,186

Net Discretionary

168,000

170,186

195,242

170,186

190,186

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

4,730,177

4,840,410

4,907,479

4,840,210

4,851,219

Net Discretionary

142,526

121,586

188,655

121,586

132,395

Fees

4,587,651

4,718,824

4,718,824

4,718,624

4,718,824

Office of the Secretary and Executive Management

141,381

141,310

174,916

160,369

178,808

Net Discretionary

141,381

141,310

174,916

160,369

178,808d

TOTAL NET DISCRETIONARY BUDGET AUTHORITY PLUS ADJUSTMENTS, DHS

63,743,419

66,006,618

64,468,500

70,786,000

68,295,789

Sources: CRS analysis of H.Rept. 116-9, P.L. 116-20, P.L. 116-26, H.Rept. 116-180, S.Rept. 116-125, P.L. 116-93, and the funding tables of the explanatory statement as printed in Book II of the December 17, 2019, Congressional Record, pp. H11024-11060.

Notes: HAC=House Appropriations Committee; SAC=Senate Appropriations Committee. Totals do not reflect the impact of rescissions, or the Sept. 10 modification of the scoring for provisions in H.R. 3931. Adjustments include emergency, disaster relief, and overseas contingency operations (OCO) designated funding. Data on some supplemental appropriations requests and vehicles for FY2019 can be found in CRS Report R45844, FY2019 Disaster Supplemental Appropriations: Overview.

a. The table and figure do not reflect a redirection of $233 million in emergency appropriations for CBP from P.L. 116-26 by P.L. 116-93, Division D, §212 and §537.

b. Coast Guard retired pay is considered mandatory spending, but still requires an appropriation each year to provide the resources the U.S. government is legally obligated to pay.

c. Includes $41 million for a grant program funded in Title V for reimbursement to local government for law enforcement costs for protecting the President.

d. Does not reflect a $10 million transfer from the Office of the Secretary and Executive Management to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fund the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grants program.

e. $33.6 million of this increase is due to a change in the detail table accounting for the Radiological Emergency Preparedness program, which is now displayed as offsetting collections and their use, rather than a net total.

Some DHS components have access to funding beyond the budget authority controlled for reprogramming through the aforementioned detail tables in appropriations committee reports. Although some of the mandatory spending for DHS, including fee-funded programs, is reflected in the tables, much of DHS's mandatory spending is not, and is therefore not reflected in Figure 1 or Table 1. This includes spending on flood insurance claims, as well as trust funds for the Coast Guard and the Secret Service. Information on this type of mandatory spending can be found in the Administration's budget request.

Likewise, the detail tables do not reflect reimbursements between components for services provided, such as payments from partner agencies to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for the cost of training programs. Information on these resources can be found in the DHS annual budget justifications submitted to Congress.

DHS Appropriations: Comparing Scores

It is often rhetorically useful to describe the comparative difference in funding for given DHS components. This is frequently done by comparing the net discretionary funding level for components. Table 2 shows congressional action on net discretionary annual FY2020 appropriations for DHS distributed by departmental component.

Each grouping of three lines in Table 2 presents an analysis of a component's net discretionary annual appropriations—appropriations provided from the Treasury that are not offset by other incoming new or returning existing budget authority.⁷ Lines below each component name indicate two baselines commonly used to make comparisons of appropriations—the FY2020 requested funding level and the FY2019 enacted funding level, both expressed in thousands of dollars of net discretionary budget authority. To the right of each component name in bold is the funding level reported by the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee for FY2020, as well as the level enacted in P.L. 116-93, Division D. Below each line of bold numbers are two analytical lines showing the change that bold number represents compared to the two baselines: these changes are reflected in thousands of dollars, and then as a percentage. The components are ordered from largest to smallest by FY2019 enacted annual net discretionary funding level.

FY2019 supplemental appropriations are not reflected in Table 2. The purpose of the table is to provide comparative perspectives on annual appropriations levels at various stages of the process, as well as to improve understanding of comparative annual appropriations levels across the department, rather than to survey total resources provided by Congress, which can be seen in Figure 1 and Table 1.⁸

Table 2. DHS Annual Appropriations by Component, FY2019-FY2020

(net discretionary budget authority, in thousands of dollars)

Component

FY2020

House Committee-Reported H.R. 3931

FY2020

Senate Committee-Reported S. 2582

FY2020

Enacted P.L. 116-93, Div. D

Baseline

Baseline Value

$ change v. baseline

% change v. baseline

$ change v. baseline

% change v. baseline

$ change v. baseline

% change v. baseline

Customs and Border Protection

13,868,897

18,118,283

14,682,867

FY2020 Request

18,191,683

(4,322,786)

(23.8%)

(73,400)

(0.4%)

(3,508,816)

-19.3%

FY2019 Enacted

14,959,548

(1,090,651)

(7.3%)

3,158,735

21.1%

(276,681)

-1.8%

U.S. Coast Guard

10,211,054

9,830,028

10,163,815

FY2020 Request

9,317,107

893,947

9.6%

512,921

5.5%

846,708

9.1%

FY2019 Enacted

10,276,077

(65,023)

(0.6%)

(446,049)

(4.3%)

(112,262)

-1.1%

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

8,057,287

8,367,511

8,080,071

FY2020 Request

8,781,195

(723,908)

(8.2%)

(413,684)

(4.7%)

(701,124)

-8.0%

FY2019 Enacted

7,587,712

469,575

6.2%

779,799

10.3%

492,359

6.5%

Transportation Security Agency

5,049,691

4,893,246

4,983,567

FY2020 Request

3,918,720

1,130,971

28.9%

974,526

24.9%

1,064,847

27.2%

FY2019 Enacted

4,930,462

119,229

2.4%

(37,216)

(0.8%)

53,105

1.1%

Federal Emergency Management Agency

5,119,528a

4,677,749a

4,965,176

FY2020 Request

3,932,565

1,186,963

30.2%

745,184

18.9%

1,032,611

26.3%

FY2019 Enacted

4,892,633a

226,895

4.6%

(214,884)

(4.4%)

72,543

1.5%

U.S. Secret Service

2,447,748

2,349,354

2,415,845

FY2020 Request

2,308,977

138,771

6.0%

40,377

1.7%

106,868

4.6%

FY2019 Enacted

2,248,159

199,589

8.9%

101,195

4.5%

167,686

7.5%

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agencyb

2,016,212

2,017,400

2,015,622

FY2020 Request

1,608,150

408,062

25.4%

409,250

25.4%

407,472

25.3%

FY2019 Enacted

1,681,757

334,455

19.9%

335,643

19.9%

333,865

19.9%

Management Directorate

1,575,906

1,215,651

1,563,440

FY2020 Request

1,557,288

18,618

1.2%

(341,637)

(21.9%)

6,152

0.4%

FY2019 Enacted

1,313,302

262,604

20.0%

(97,651)

(7.4%)

250,138

19.0%

Science and Technology Directorate

665,680

710,403

737,275

FY2020 Request

582,117

83,563

14.4%

128,286

22.0%

155,158

26.7%

FY2019 Enacted

819,785

(154,105)

(18.8%)

(109,382)

(13.3%)

(82,510)

-10.1%

Office of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction

434,952

424,658

432,299

FY2020 Request

423,158

11,794

2.8%

1,500

0.4%

9,141

2.2%

FY2019 Enacted

434,897

55

0.0%

(10,239)

(2.4%)

(2,598)

-0.6%

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

368,091

350,935

351,170

FY2020 Request

350,935

17,156

4.9%

0

0.0%

235

0.1%

FY2019 Enacted

328,819

39,272

11.9%

22,116

6.7%

22,351

6.8%

Analysis & Operations

276,641

276,641

284,141

FY2020 Request

276,641

0

0.0%

0

0.0%

7,500

2.7%

FY2019 Enacted

253,253

23,388

9.2%

23,388

9.2%

30,888

12.2%

Office of the Inspector General

195,242

170,186

190,186

FY2020 Request

170,186

25,056

14.7%

0

0.0%

20,000

11.8%

FY2019 Enacted

168,000

27,242

16.2%

2,186

1.3%

22,186

13.2%

Office of the Secretary and Executive Management

174,916

160,369

178,808

FY2020 Request

141,310

33,606

23.8%

19,059

13.5%

37,498

26.5%

FY2019 Enacted

141,381

33,535

23.7%

18,988

13.4%

37,427

26.5%

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

188,655

121,586

132,395

FY2020 Request

121,586

67,069

55.2%

0

0.0%

10,809

8.9%

FY2019 Enacted

142,526

46,129

32.4%

(20,940)

(14.7%)

(10,131)

-7.1%

Sources: CRS analysis of P.L. 116-6, H.Rept. 116-9, H.R. 3931, H.Rept. 116-180, S. 2582, S.Rept. 116-125, P.L. 116-93, and the funding tables of the explanatory statement as printed in Book II of the December 17, 2019, Congressional Record, pp. H11024-11060.

Notes: For notes on data, including transfers, adjustments, and supplemental appropriations not reflected in this table, see Table 1.

a. Includes the effect of using unobligated prior-year balances in the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) to fund requested current-year DRF activities.

b. Formerly known as the National Protection and Programs Directorate.

Author Contact Information

William L. Painter, Specialist in Homeland Security and Appropriations ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])

Footnotes

1.

Under the Trump Administration's FY2020 budget, as in previous years, DHS would also receive budgetary resources through appropriations in permanent law, as well as reimbursements and transfers from other parts of the federal government. However, the DHS appropriations act is the primary vehicle through which Congress annually funds and directs the financial activities of the department.

2.

P.L. 116-6, Division A.

3.

These adjustments, established by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25), include special exemption from discretionary spending limits for emergency requirements, the designated costs of major disasters, and for Overseas Contingency Operations.

4.

Supplemental appropriations measures often do not have their contents reflected in a concurrently produced table—therefore FY2019 supplemental appropriations data are drawn directly from the supplemental appropriations acts.

5.

The mandatory spending reflected here is composed of two elements: Coast Guard retired pay, which is considered mandatory spending but requires congressional action nonetheless; and $250 million from the Aviation Security Capital Fund.

6.

For the DHS appropriations legislation, these have included funding designated as disaster relief and funding designated as supporting Overseas Contingency Operations. For more details about adjustments to discretionary spending limits under the BCA, see CRS Report R45778, Exceptions to the Budget Control Act's Discretionary Spending Limits, by Megan S. Lynch.

7.

In accordance with appropriations committee practices, these totals do not include elements of annual funding covered by the disaster relief designation or overseas contingency operations designation.

8.

Details on FY2019 supplemental appropriations for DHS can be found in a number of products, including CRS Report R45844, FY2019 Disaster Supplemental Appropriations: Overview, by William L. Painter.