DHS intelligence branch planning to shrink staffing by 75% amid elevated threat level

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN

(CNN) — The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to cut nearly 75% of staffing at the agency’s office tasked with developing and sharing threat intelligence with state and local partners, according to an official familiar with the plans.

The planned cuts of about 750 at the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, which has a staff of around 1,000, are part of the department’s efforts to remove what leadership considers redundant roles or those working on “non-critical programs,” DHS said in a statement Thursday.

Some Democratic lawmakers asked DHS to pause the cuts, raising concerns over the elevated threat environment intelligence officials have reported.

The roughly 275 staffers left after the planned cuts will still be tasked with the mission established in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US –- to provide intelligence related to threats to the homeland to local and state law enforcement as well as other government officials.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we focused on getting the Department of Homeland Security back to its core mission of prioritizing American safety and enforcing our laws,” the department said. “DHS component leads have identified redundant positions and non-critical programs within the Office of Intelligence and Analysis.”

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Democratic lawmakers on the House and Senate committees on homeland security implored the officials to reconsider the planned cuts.

“We urge you not to take this drastic and unilateral step and instead to consult with Congress about alternative ways to make I&A as effective and efficient as possible,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter Wednesday. “Radically reducing I&A’s workforce at headquarters or in the field would create dangerous and unnecessary security gaps and could again leave us in the dark about the threats that lie ahead.”

The letter continued, noting that “at a time when DHS is rightly warning about an elevated threat environment from terrorists and cartels, we should be focused on plugging security gaps rather than senselessly creating new ones.”

The planned cuts may not be the last seen under the Trump administration to offices inside DHS.

“The Department is actively working to identify other wasteful positions and programs that do not align with DHS’s mission to prioritize American safety and enforce our laws,” the agency said.

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