Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2025 State of Play

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2025 State of Play

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2025 State of Play

Updated March 21, 2025 (R48189)

Contents

Introduction

Quick Summary: FY2025 DHS Appropriations Current Status

DHS Appropriations Timing

The FY2025 DHS Appropriations Process

President's Budget Request

Advance Appropriations

House Action

Senate Committee Action

Continuing Resolution

Proposed Anomalies and Authorization Extensions for FY2025

Legislative Action

Figures

Figure 1. DHS Appropriations Process Timing, FY2004-FY2025

Tables

Table 1. Accounts with Supplemental and Advance Appropriations for DHS in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58)

Table 2. FY2025 DHS Year-long CR Anomalies with Explicit Budgetary Scoring Implications

Introduction

FY2025 marks the 22nd annual appropriations cycle with a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations measure.

This report is a quick reference for tracking the status of DHS appropriations for FY2025 from the end of the August 2024 district work period going forward.

For more in-depth analyses of the FY2025 DHS appropriations request and the House and Senate Appropriations Committee responses, see

CRS Report R48074, DHS Budget Request Analysis: FY2025, by William L. Painter;

CRS Report R48115, Comparing DHS Component Funding, FY2025: In Brief, by William L. Painter; and

CRS Report R48126, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2025 Provisions, by William L. Painter.

For background on DHS structure and function, see CRS Report R47446, The Department of Homeland Security: A Primer, by William L. Painter.

Quick Summary: FY2025 DHS Appropriations Current Status

As of the date of publication:

Continuing appropriations for DHS for FY2025 have been enacted, rather than a traditionally structured annual appropriations measure. Most relevantly

The House passed H.R. 8752, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2025 on June 28, 2024, by a vote of 212-203.

Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 1316, the special rule adopted by the House governing floor action on the measure, the House never officially sent the House-passed bill to the Senate for consideration.

The Senate Appropriations Committee did not mark up its version of a Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2025.

An initial continuing resolution (CR) through December 20, 2024, was enacted as P.L. 118-83 on September 26, 2024. This CR was extended through March 14, 2025, by Division A of P.L. 118-158, enacted December 21, 2024.

A continuing resolution extending through September 30, 2025, was signed into law by President Trump on March 15, 2025.

Some supplemental appropriations for DHS elements have been provided for FY2025.

P.L. 118-83 included a supplemental appropriation of $231 million for the U.S. Secret Service; and

P.L. 118-158, Division B, Title VI, included supplemental appropriations for the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. Details on these matters are provided in the "Continuing Resolution" section under "Legislative Action."

See "Advance Appropriations" for details on advance supplemental appropriations.

DHS Appropriations Timing

In six of the first seven years of its existence (2004-2010), the annual appropriations measure for DHS was enacted within the first month of the fiscal year it covered. Since FY2010, no annual DHS appropriations measure has been enacted before two months of the fiscal year it covered had passed, and in 11 of those 14 years, three months or more had passed before DHS annual appropriations were enacted. In two years, including FY2025, a continuing resolution was enacted that extended to the end of the fiscal year, rather than a traditional annual appropriations bill. Lapses in annual appropriations for the department lasting more than a week have occurred twice.

Figure 1 shows a history of the timing of the annual Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, since its first development in 2003 (for FY2004). Tracked actions include

the release of the budget request (green dot);

full committee markups and passage of the House and Senate versions of the bill (orange and purple bars, respectively); and

enactment of the measure (black bar).

Dotted lines show the months covered by CRs. Unshaded, white gaps indicate lapses in annual appropriations.

Figure 1. DHS Appropriations Process Timing, FY2004-FY2025

(As of March, 2024)

Source: CRS analysis of Administration budget request release dates and legislative action from Congress.gov.

Notes: FY2011 and FY2025 were resolved through continuing resolutions (CRs) extending through the end of the fiscal year. Final action on annual appropriations for FY2011, FY2013-FY2015, FY2017-FY2019, FY2022, FY2024, and FY2025 occurred after the beginning of the new calendar year. The FY2019 lapse began in December 2018. A three-day lapse in January of FY2018 and an hours-long lapse in February of that same year are not displayed due to limitations of scale.

The FY2025 DHS Appropriations Process

President's Budget Request

On March 11, 2024, President Joe Biden's Administration released its budget request for FY2025, including $107.74 billion in total budget authority for DHS, $91.13 billion of which was discretionary appropriations. By the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) estimation, the request included $65.57 billion in base discretionary appropriations, $22.74 billion in disaster relief-designated funds and $2.79 billion in emergency-designated appropriations.¹ It also included a request for up to $4.70 billion in additional emergency-designated appropriations, the availability of which would be contingent on the number of undocumented migrants encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border over the course of FY2025, and reiterated supplemental appropriations requests for border security and other domestic priorities. Setting the requested contingent appropriations and supplemental appropriations aside, the FY2025 discretionary appropriations request was $4.60 billion less than what would be enacted in FY2024 DHS annual appropriations almost two weeks later, on March 23, 2024.

For more information on the Biden Administration's request, see CRS Report R48074, DHS Budget Request Analysis: FY2025, by William L. Painter.

Advance Appropriations

On November 15, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law as P.L. 117-58. Division J of the IIJA included a number of supplemental appropriations, including a total of $7.96 billion for DHS in Title V. Four appropriations received $6.1 billion of that total, with $1.22 billion available in FY2022, and $4.88 billion to be made available incrementally from FY2022 through FY2026, through what are known as advance appropriations.² $1.12 billion of those advance appropriations will become available in FY2025.

Table 1 lists DHS accounts with advance appropriations provided by P.L. 117-58, and includes a breakdown of amounts coming available each fiscal year, with FY2025 highlighted.

Table 1. Accounts with Supplemental and Advance Appropriations for DHS in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58)

(Emergency-designated budget authority, in thousands of dollars)

Component / Appropriation / PPA

Total Provided

FY2022

FY2023

FY2024

FY2025

FY2026

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

Cybersecurity Response and Recovery Fund

100,000

20,000

20,000

20,000

20,000

20,000

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Federal Assistance

Section 205 Grants (for establishing hazard mitigation revolving loan funds)

500,000

100,000

100,000

100,000

100,000

100,000

Grants For Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure

1,000,000

200,000

400,000

300,000

100,000

0

Disaster Relief Fund (for Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants)

1,000,000

200,000

200,000

200,000

200,000

200,000

National Flood Insurance Fund

3,500,000

700,000

700,000

700,000

700,000

700,000

TOTAL ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS

6,100,000

1,220,000

1,420,000

1,320,000

1,120,000

1,020,000

Source: P.L. 117-58, Division J, Title V.

Notes: PPA = program, project, or activity. Division J, Title V also included $1.86 billion in accounts and PPAs that did not receive advance appropriations, and thus are not shown in Table 1.

House Action

On June 12, 2024, the House Committee on Appropriations (HAC) marked up H.R. 8752 (118th Congress), its version of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2025. H.Rept. 118-553 was filed on June 14, 2024, providing additional direction to DHS, and including minority party views. HAC-reported H.R. 8752 included $71.68 billion in discretionary budget authority, and $22.74 billion designated as being for the costs of major disasters. This was $6.10 billion above the level requested by the Biden Administration (leaving aside the Administration's requested $4.70 billion in emergency appropriations contingent on activity at the southern border and the $2.79 billion in "regular" emergency designated funding) and $2.09 billion above the FY2023 enacted amount. No contingency appropriations or emergency-designated funding were included in the bill.

On June 26, 2024, the House Rules Committee reported H.Res. 1316 (118th Congress). This special rule, which provided for the consideration of two other appropriations bills as well, made in order 61 amendments to H.R. 8752. It also included a self-executing amendment that struck two provisions and added a third—a provision carried in prior years' consolidated appropriations measures regarding raising the limit on the number of H-2A visas issued to accommodate returning workers.³ After the rule passed, the House took up H.R. 8752. Ultimately, 50 of the amendments made in order were agreed to, four by recorded vote and 46 by voice vote, including 28 in an en bloc amendment. A motion to recommit the bill to the House Appropriations Committee failed on a vote of 201-213, and the bill passed the House 220-208 on June 28, 2024.

Senate Committee Action

The Senate Committee on Appropriations (SAC) had planned to mark up its version of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2025, on August 1. However, the bill was pulled from the markup two days beforehand. Then-SAC Chair Senator Patty Murray indicated in opening remarks of another markup that "[W]e are continuing to work hard to get to a bipartisan agreement on the Homeland Security bill. The additional time will allow us to take a closer look at issues such as the Secret Service budget as we learn more from the assassination attempt of former President Trump just over two weeks ago, and my hope is that we will be able to mark that up when we return."⁴

On November 13, 2024, the SAC released a committee draft of the FY2025 bill, along with a draft report.⁵ The committee draft included $66.16 billion in discretionary budget authority, $22.39 billion designated as being for the costs of major disasters, and $4.67 billion in emergency-designated funding divided among five components. No contingency appropriations were included in the bill.

Continuing Resolution

Proposed Anomalies and Authorization Extensions for FY2025

On August 29, 2024, the Biden Administration released technical assistance documents providing guidance to lawmakers on funding and legislative adjustments it considers necessary to avoid disruptions to a range of public services in the event of a short-term CR running through mid-December, 2024.⁶ The request included two adjustments to the rate of spending allowed under the CR to accommodate certain situations related to DHS:⁷

potential disaster activity (allowing accelerated apportionment of CR funding to support the disaster response and recovery efforts under the Stafford Act);⁸ and

increased operational costs (allowing apportionment at a rate to maintain adequate staffing levels to support Secret Service protective operations).⁹

The request also included provisions to

allow for closeout of the C-27J Missionization program,

start a procurement program for the Commercially Available Polar Icebreaker,

extend the authorization of the Office of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and

extend the ability of DHS health care professionals to practice outside the state where they are licensed (an authority provided during the pandemic).¹⁰

A list of authorization issues was included as well, which either the Biden Administration deemed necessary for inclusion in a CR if not enacted first, or that the Administration did not object to being included in the CR.

Nine such items were included in the list of issues, all of which the Biden Administration considered necessary:¹¹

Extension of the authority for enforcement of Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), which had expired on July 27, 2023;¹²

Extension of the authorization for the National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS), which defends federal agencies from known cyberthreats;¹³

Extension of the authority for the National Flood Insurance Program to issue new policies;¹⁴

Extension of the waiver of foreign residence requirements for physicians working in underserved areas (also known as the "Conrad State 30" Program);¹⁵

Extension of authorization for the E-Verify employment eligibility verification program;¹⁶

Extension of authority to grant special immigrant status to religious workers other than ministers;¹⁷

Providing authority to raise the cap on H-2B visas;¹⁸

Extension of the authorization of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office of DHS—unlike most other component authorizations within DHS, the Office's authorization included a specific sunset date;¹⁹ and

Extension of special acquisition authority ("Other Transaction Authority") for DHS's Science and Technology Directorate.²⁰

Legislative Action

Initial CR

On September 18, 2024, the House took up H.R. 9494 (118th Congress), a measure combining a current-rate CR through March 28, 2025, with separate legislation related to noncitizen voting. The bill included four DHS-specific provisions:

Sec. 129—The anomaly requested by the Biden Administration allowing accelerated apportionment of CR funding to support disaster response and recovery efforts under the Stafford Act;

Sec. 130—A $10 billion emergency supplemental appropriation for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), available beginning in FY2025;

Sec. 131—The anomaly requested by the Biden Administration allowing apportionment at a rate necessary to carry out Secret Service protective operations; and

Sec. 147—The anomaly requested by the Biden Administration extending the National Flood Insurance Program through the term of the CR.

The bill was considered under a closed rule, per the provisions of H.Res. 1430 (118th Congress), and failed by a vote of 202-220, with two Members voting "present."²¹

On September 25, 2024, the House took up H.R. 9747 (118th Congress), a measure combining a current-rate CR through December 20, 2024, with several authorization extensions. The CR in Division A contained language in Section 101(6) that extended several immigration provisions for the duration of the CR, a supplemental appropriation of $231 million for the Secret Service's protective mission operations, and six other sections that pertained to DHS directly:

Sec. 132—The anomaly requested by the Biden Administration allowing closeout costs for the USCG C-27J Missionization program;

Sec. 133—The anomaly requested by the Biden Administration allowing USCG to proceed with procuring a commercially available polar icebreaker;

Sec. 134—The anomaly requested by the Biden Administration allowing faster apportionment of $20.261 billion in continuing appropriations for the DRF to carry out Stafford Act response and recovery activities;

Sec. 135—The anomaly requested by the Biden Administration allowing faster apportionment of USSS Operations and Support continuing appropriations for protective mission activities;

Sec. 137—The anomaly requested by the Biden Administration extending the National Flood Insurance Program through the term of the CR; and

Sec. 152—Waiver of a restriction on the number of senior enlisted personnel in the USCG through the term of the CR.

While the initial CR included continuing appropriations for the DRF, the enacted measure did not include any supplemental appropriations for the DRF.

Division B of the bill included three other extensions of authorities through December 20, 2024:

Sec. 101—An extension requested by the Biden Administration of joint authority for DHS and the Department of Justice to address threats from unmanned aircraft.;

Sec. 102—An extension requested by the Biden Administration for DHS Joint Task Forces; and

Sec. 103—An extension requested by the Biden Administration of the authority for the National Cybersecurity Protection System.

The House passed the bill under suspension of the rules by a vote of 341-82 that same day, and the Senate passed it that evening 78-18. President Biden signed it into law as P.L. 118-83 on September 26, 2024.

CR Extension and Supplemental

On December 19, 2024, the House took up H.R. 10515 (118th Congress), a consolidated measure that included an extension of the continuing resolution through March 14, 2025, as well as a number of other provisions, including a package of supplemental disaster relief. An attempt to pass the bill under suspension of the rules was unsuccessful by a vote of 174-235. After further negotiations, a second package, H.R. 10545 (118th Congress), the FY2025 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, passed the House under suspension of the rules by a vote of 336-34 on December 20, 2024. The Senate passed it the next day by a vote of 85-11, and the President signed it into law as P.L. 118-158.

Like the first package, P.L. 118-158, Division A, extended the continuing resolution through March 14, 2025. Division B is the "Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2025," which included several appropriations for DHS in Title VI:

$102.5 million for the U.S. Coast Guard Operations and Support account, to pay expenses related to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse and other disasters;

$210.2 million for U.S. Coast Guard Procurement, Construction, and Improvements account, for expenses related to disaster consequences;

$29 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund, $28 billion of which is for the costs of major disasters;

$1.5 billion for the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Account; and

$14 million for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers Procurement, Construction, and Improvements account, for expenses related to disaster consequences.

The disaster relief supplemental was designated as emergency requirement under budget control laws.

Division E also included provisions to further extend two of the authorizations described in P.L. 118-83 above: for DHS and the Department of Justice to protect certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft, and the authorization for the National Cybersecurity Protection System through March 14, 2025.²²

Full-Year CR

On March 11, 2025, the House took up H.R. 1968, a consolidated measure that included a continuing resolution through the end of FY2025, as well as a number of other provisions. The measure, the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, passed the House by a vote of 217-213 that same day. The Senate passed it on March 14, 2025, by a vote of 54-46, and on March 15, President signed it into law as P.L. 119-4.

Division A contained the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025. Unlike the extensions passed earlier in the fiscal year, Division A was a separate CR, rather than an amendment to the prior measures. In Section 1101(a)(6), the act includes the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2024 as its baseline—except for several offsetting general provisions—as well as several immigration program extensions from the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024.²³

Title VII includes several sections that make changes from the baseline for appropriations, rescissions, and other changes in law for DHS. Specifically, Section 1701 makes changes to five appropriations accounts. Table 2 outlines changes to those appropriations and shows the FY2024 enacted baseline (upon which the CR was based), the amount included in the FY2025 full-year CR based on the anomaly, and the relative change. It also includes information on Sections 1706-1708, which include rescissions and a repurposing of previous appropriations.

Table 2. FY2025 DHS Year-long CR Anomalies with Explicit Budgetary Scoring Implications

Section / Component / Appropriation

FY2024 Enacted

FY2025 CR

Difference

Section 1701

ICE/Operations and Support (O&S)

$9,501,542

$9,986,542

+$485,000

TSA/O&S

$10,514,968

$10,614,968

+$100,000

USCG/O&S

$10,054,771

$10,415,271

+$360,500

FEMA/Federal Assistance (FA)

$3,497,019

$3,203,262

-$293,757

FEMA/Disaster Relief Fund

$20,261,000

$22,510,000

+$2,249,000

Section 1706—Rescissions from FY2024 Annual Appropriations

OSEM/O&S

-$550,000

MD/O&S

-$1,497,000

IA&SA/O&S

-$1,309,000

OIG/O&S

-$102,000

TSA/O&S

-$15,823,000

CISA/O&S

-$4,321,000

FEMA/O&S

-$1,723,000

USCIS/O&S

-$2,515,000

FLETC/O&S

-$685,000

CWMD/O&S

-$1,051,000

Section 1707 – Rescission

DHS Nonrecurring Expenses Fund

-$133,000,000

Section 1708 – Derived by Transfer of Unobligated Dam Safety Grants Balances from P.L. 117-58

FEMA/FA

$115,000,000

Source: P.L. 119-4.

Other anomalies in Division A included the following:

Sec. 1702—Allows the USCG to proceed with procuring a commercially available icebreaker, as originally requested by the Biden Administration and included in P.L. 118-83, Division A, Sec. 133;

Sec. 1703—Waives for FY2025 a statutory requirement that would limit the number of senior enlisted personnel in the U.S. Coast Guard, as included in P.L. 118-83, Division A, Sec. 152;

Sec. 1704—Raises the limit on funding for U.S. Secret Service premium pay in excess of regular statutory limits from $24 million to $35 million;

Sec. 1705—"Turns off" a restriction on the U.S. Coast Guard collecting fees on the inspection of towing vessels; and

Sec. 1709—Extends the National Flood Insurance Program through the end of FY2025, as originally requested by the Biden Administration and included in P.L. 118-83, Division A, Sec. 137.

Division C included two other DHS-related provisions, which provided extensions for certain authorities through the end of the fiscal year:

Sec. 3102—Extends the joint authority for DHS and the Department of Justice to address threats from unmanned aircraft, as originally requested by the Biden Administration and included in P.L. 118-83, Division B, Sec. 101; and

Sec. 3104—Extends the authority for the National Cybersecurity Protection System, as originally requested by the Biden Administration and included in P.L. 118-83, Division B, Sec. 103.

Footnotes

1.

CBO's estimates for the discretionary impact of potential legislation may change. This analysis uses CBO's estimates as reflected in H.Rept. 118-553.

2.

For more information on advance appropriations, see CRS Report R43482, Advance Appropriations, Forward Funding, and Advance Funding: Concepts, Practice, and Budget Process Considerations, by Jessica Tollestrup and Megan S. Lynch.

3.

See P.L. 117-328, Div. O, §303.

4.

United States Senate Committee on Appropriations, "Chair Murray Opening Remarks at Full Committee Markup," August 1, 2024, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/chair-murray-opening-remarks-at-full-committee-markup-3.

5.

United States Senate Committee on Appropriations, "BILL SUMMARY: Homeland Security Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations Bill," November 13, 2024, https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/bill-summary-homeland-security-fiscal-year-2025-appropriations-bill.

6.

FY2025 CR Appropriations Issues, p. 3. https://www.crs.gov/products/Documents/FY2025_CR_Anomalies_TechAsst/pdf/FY2025_CR_Anomalies_TechAsst.pdf.

7.

FY2025 CR Appropriations Issues, pp. 15-16. https://www.crs.gov/products/Documents/FY2025_CR_Anomalies_TechAsst/pdf/FY2025_CR_Anomalies_TechAsst.pdf.

8.

A similar anomaly has been included in every CR starting in FY2018.

9.

This type of anomaly has been requested before, and CRs have included this anomaly on a periodic basis in FY2012, FY2017, FY2020, and FY2024.

10.

This had been previously extended by the DHS Appropriations Acts for 2022 and 2023 (P.L. 117-103, Div. F, Sec. 541; and P.L. 117-328, Div. F, Sec. 543), but was not included in the FY2024 DHS Appropriations Act and has not been included in continuing resolutions.

11.

FY2025 CR Authorization Issues, p. 3, https://www.crs.gov/products/Documents/FY2025_CR_Authorization_Fixes_TechAsst/pdf/FY2025_CR_Authorization_Fixes_TechAsst.pdf.

12.

6 U.S.C. §621 note; see also Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, "Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS)," https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/programs/chemical-facility-anti-terrorism-standards-cfats.

13.

6 U.S.C. §1525(a); expires at the end of FY2024; last extended by P.L. 118-47, Div. G, §106.

14.

42 U.S.C. §4016(a) and §4026; expires at the end of FY2024; last extended by P.L. 118-47, Div. G, §101.

15.

8 U.S.C. §1182 note; expires at the end of FY2024; last extended by P.L. 118-47, Div. G, §102.

16.

8 U.S.C. §1324a note; expires at the end of FY2024; last extended by P.L. 118-47, Div. G, §103.

17.

8 U.S.C. §1101(a)(27)(C)(ii); expires at the end of FY2024; last extended by P.L. 118-47, Div. G, §104.

18.

8 U.S.C. §1184 note; expires at the end of FY2024; last extended by P.L. 118-47, Div. G, §105.

19.

The original sunset date was December 21, 2023, per 6 U.S.C. §591(e). This was extended through Sec. 144 of the FY2023 CR, and then DHS interpreted the appropriation for the office as authority to operate. When the fiscal year ends, that authorization will expire as well, absent congressional action.

20.

This authority was originally provided in Section 831 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 as a pilot program, and was to expire five years after the bill's effective date. Extensions of the authority were provided through continuing resolutions and general provisions until FY2019, when Congress no longer included it in continuing resolutions. The authority continues to be extended through general provisions in the annual DHS appropriations measures until it was extended through FY2024 by Section 7227(b) of P.L. 117-263, the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023.

21.

Roll Call 431, https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024431.

22.

As in P.L. 118-83, these extensions were provided with fixed dates, rather than being linked to the expiration date of the CR.

23.

P.L. 118-47, Div. C, except Sections 543 through 546; and Div. G, Sections 102-105.