DHS Cyber Grants to States Will Cease If Congress Doesn't Pass Funding, Johnson Says
State and local governments will be cut off from Department of Homeland Security cybersecurity grants and other DHS grants if Congress doesn’t pass funding for the department by the end of the week, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson told state governors Sunday during a National Governors Association meeting. DHS funding has been in doubt since earlier in the month after House Republicans attached to a bill to fund the department for the rest of FY 2015 provisions that would scale back President Barack Obama’s immigration executive action (see 1502130015).
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Most DHS cybersecurity personnel will still come to work if the department doesn’t continue to receive funding, but they won’t be paid and operations will be handled by a “skeleton crew,” Johnson said. He said DHS still hadn't completely recovered from the 2013 federal government shutdown, which temporarily hindered implementation of Obama’s 2013 cybersecurity executive order. Johnson and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, urged Congress to move forward on a bill this week, with McAuliffe saying “they should not let partisan politics threaten our homeland security and threaten the economic security of so many Americans.” Johnson said he hopes Congress will “solve this impasse,” and he'll be lobbying congressional leaders all week.
Johnson’s remarks occurred during a meeting meant to focus on states’ cybersecurity efforts. McAuliffe and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, both highlighted during the meeting their states’ cyber work. Cybersecurity is a “critical issue” for Michigan, Snyder said, saying the state blocks more than 650,000 cyberattacks daily. The state’s 2015 Michigan Cyber Initiative program focuses on creating additional partnerships with the private sector and leveraging existing government resources to improve the state’s cybersecurity, he said. Snyder and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, established the NGA’s Resource Center on Cybersecurity in 2012.
McAuliffe said he has made improving Virginia’s cybersecurity a priority since he took office in January 2014. The state was the first to formally adopt the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s “Version 1.0” Cybersecurity Framework in February 2014, and McAuliffe established the Virginia Cyber Security Commission the same month. Virginia has become a magnet for the cybersecurity industry, with more than 26 cyber-related research facilities and more than 450 cybersecurity companies now residing in the state, McAuliffe said. Virginia Cyber Security Commissioner Jandria Alexander said the commission has paired resources from NIST and the NGA Cybersecurity Resource Center to develop in-state cyber initiatives for technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles.