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Trump budget would crush DHS research arm

Critics say the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts to the Department of Homeland Security’s scientific research and development programs could decimate DHS efforts to develop tomorrow’s cybersecurity technologies.
President Donald Trump, left, and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s commencement on May 17 in New London, Conn. (DHS / Jetta Disco / Flickr)

Critics say the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts to the Department of Homeland Security’s scientific research and development programs could decimate DHS efforts to develop tomorrow’s cybersecurity technologies.

In the president’s proposal, DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate would be allocated $627 million in the budget for fiscal 2018, which starts Oct. 1, compared to the $771 million it actually got this year — a proposed cut of, $144 million or more than 18 percent. The bulk of that, nearly $100 million, would come off the top of the directorate’s R&D budget.

Although the fiscal 2018 plans have yet to be approved by Congress, DHS is moving ahead, making preparations to close three of its national laboratories and defund half-a-dozen centers of excellence it has supported at universities around the country.

Read more about the fallout of the proposed cuts on CyberScoop. 

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