CISA Plans to Keep 888 of 2,341 Employees Working in the February 2026 DHS Funding Lapse; About 60% Furloughed

The February 2026 DHS funding lapse began on February 14, 2026 and was resolved for most of DHS by a law signed April 30, 2026 (CRS). The DHS Office of Public Affairs announced on February 22 that it would curtail a number of its activities in response to the lapse (CRS), the date this entry is filed under. It records what CISA said it would do and did.

Planned and actual furlough share. On February 11, 2026, before the lapse began, Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala told the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee that CISA “plans to designate 888 of its 2,341 employees as excepted”. On March 25, 2026, Acting Director Nick Andersen told the House Homeland Security Committee that CISA “has approximately 40% of its workforce as excepted”. The Congressional Research Service, citing that hearing, reports CISA “furloughed 60% of its staff”, the largest share of any DHS operational component. TechCrunch reported on February 25, 2026 that CISA was operating at “around 38% staff levels”. For comparison, the Sept. 29, 2025 DHS plan for the earlier lapse listed 889 employees as excepted, when CISA had 2,540 employees as of the end of May 2025 (Cybersecurity Dive).

Headcount before the lapse. Federal News Network reported on January 21, 2026 that CISA went from “roughly 3,400 staff at the start of last year to 2,400 employees at the end of December”. CyberScoop reported that CISA “has reduced its personnel by a third”. The February testimony count of 2,341 is after that reduction, so the furlough share is a share of the reduced workforce. TechCrunch reported that CISA has been “without a permanent director since Trump entered office in 2025”.

What the agency said it could not do. Gottumukkala, on the lapse plan: “CISA would not perform any strategic planning, development of cybersecurity advice and guidance, or development of new technical capabilities”. Andersen, during the lapse: “Many of our proactive services, planning, and industry and stakeholder engagements are paused or significantly scaled back due to the limited number of people allowed to work”.

The 2020 sequence, by date. On November 12, 2020, the Elections Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council and Sector Coordinating Council executive committees released a joint statement: “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.” On November 17, 2020, President Trump removed CISA Director Christopher Krebs in a tweet that called the statement “highly inaccurate”.