Private letter warned cuts to DHS intel office would ‘create dangerous intelligence gaps’
mirza kadic
The International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts said in a previously unreported missive that staffing cuts that were initially planned for DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis would “undermine” and “degrade” various intelligence-sharing functions.
A leading international consortium representing intelligence workers in law enforcement privately urged U.S. lawmakers to maintain staffing at the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis, according to a copy of the July 4 letter obtained by Nextgov/FCW.
The International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts wrote the proposed cuts to I&A — which were first reported by Nextgov/FCW on July 1 — would “undermine” timely intelligence-sharing of unclassified data and “degrade” various capabilities “that enable two-way intelligence flow and real-time communication during emerging incidents, reducing operational readiness during crises.”
The letter — addressed to Reps. Mark Green, R-Tenn., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the top lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee — goes as far to say that the planned cuts, which would have shed some 75% of the office, would “return us to intelligence silos, isolating insights within classified systems inaccessible to [state, local, tribal and territorial] personnel.” The mention of intelligence silos dates back to lessons learned from the September 11 terrorist attacks, where officials said poor interagency coordination allowed critical threat signals to slip through the cracks.
Other law enforcement associations have issued public letters concerned about the staffing reductions, though this particular memo was not released publicly.
The sharply-worded letter underscores broad concerns from stakeholders that have flooded I&A since reporting surfaced about the planned cuts earlier this month. The substantial downsizing, which would have brought staffing below 300 personnel, put the office at odds with the communities it was built to serve. Both law enforcement associations and Jewish community groups that help safeguard Jewish institutions like religious schools and synagogues pushed back on the planned cuts.
“Severely reducing I&A’s footprint will create dangerous intelligence gaps — both in analysis and operational capability,” the IALEIA letter also says. “The proposed cuts undermine national preparedness, particularly for frontline public safety and critical infrastructure stakeholders who rely on timely, accurate intelligence to act decisively.”
It adds: “As the only IC element focused on supporting 18,000 SLTT law enforcement agencies, I&A must not be dismantled.”
Nextgov/FCW has asked IALEIA for comment on its communication to the committee.
The cuts have been halted for now, Nextgov/FCW reported last week. And in recent days, hiring within the intelligence agency has resumed, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“We’ve been saying for months that hollowing out DHS’s intelligence arm will have terrible consequences for our homeland security,” Thompson said in a statement. “At a time when DHS has said we are at an increased threat level — and we’ve seen an increase in domestic terrorism cases — it’s malpractice to make policy changes based on politics and fake claims of government efficiency.”
Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, who chairs the House Homeland panel’s counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee, said he values input from law enforcement groups about I&A’s mission but that the office has drifted from its core purpose and must be realigned.
“I am deeply appreciative of the feedback shared by law enforcement stakeholders like IALEIA, and I take to heart their insight on I&A’s role in our national security landscape,” he said in a statement emailed to Nextgov/FCW. “At the same time, Congress — and specifically the House Homeland Security Committee — has a constitutional duty to hold DHS accountable. It’s no secret that in recent years, I&A has strayed from its original purpose.”
Pfluger last year held a hearing on I&A, aiming to address various shortcomings that he and other critics say have set the IC agency of course.
I&A is one of 18 units in the U.S. intelligence community and one of two housed under DHS, the other being Coast Guard Intelligence. The first iteration of I&A took shape in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, as part of DHS’s broader effort to address gaps in domestic intelligence coordination.
The lesser-known intelligence bureau has faced controversy over alleged unchecked domestic surveillance. During the 2020 George Floyd protests, I&A analysts collected data on journalists and demonstrators in Portland, which sparked vast internal oversight and led to the removal of a top official.
A separate congressional investigation after the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riots said I&A and the FBI received numerous tips about online posts threatening violence at the site of the day’s events, but that such intel was not acted upon.
A Government Accountability Office report released Thursday says I&A failed to meet essential policy requirements for years, including its obligation to produce an annual consolidated intelligence budget, due in part to a lack of leadership focus. That said, the intelligence agency has made improvements in other areas, and concurred in late June with several GAO recommendations that would ideally be implemented by next year.
I&A continues to play a key role in disseminating threat information. A recently disclosed I&A memo detailed a major Chinese cyber breach into a state’s Army National Guard network, opening up U.S. armed forces to potential further intrusions from the Beijing-linked cyberspies.