Hardening federal agency cybersecurity remains a top priority across multiple administrations, and the Trump Administration’s FY 2027 budget request provides the latest look at where civilian agency cybersecurity spending is headed.

Civilian Topline Cybersecurity Budget

The FY 2027 budget includes $12.2B for civilian agency cybersecurity-related activities. (See Management Table 5-5 under the Analytical Perspectives section on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) web site.)

This proposed $12.2B would represent a decrease of $227M, or -1.8%, from the FY 2026 estimated level of $12.5B and $58M (-0.5%) below the FY 2025 cybersecurity funding level. So, after a $168M (+1.4%) increase from FY 2025 to FY 2026, the proposed FY 2027 civilian cybersecurity budget would settle back to nearly the same level as in FY 2025.

Whether this reflects deliberate fiscal restraint, efficiencies being realized across the civilian sector, or a shifting of certain activities to classified programs remains to be seen.

Civilian Cyber Budgets – Year-to-Year Comparisons

While this proposed trimming in the FY 2027 topline level bucks what has been an historical trend of yearly increases in cybersecurity spending government-wide, some comparison with past budgets may provide a beneficial perspective.

In the previous FY 2026 cyber budget request released in June 2025, the Trump Administration requested $11.7B for FY 2026 and estimated total spending of $13.0B and $12.6B for FY 2024 and FY 2025, respectively.

The FY 2027 budget numbers shown above update the FY 2025 and FY 2026 levels to $12.3B and $12.5B, respectively. So, at the topline agencies spent roughly $300M less in FY 2025 than was originally estimated in the FY 2026 budget. However, they are also estimated to be spending $800M more in FY 2026 than was requested in the original FY 2026 budget. This restatement shows that FY 2027 cyber budgets may come in higher than what is originally requested, and this will be influenced by what Congress appropriates and earmarks during the legislative process.

Top Ten Civilian Departments

The ten civilian departments with the largest FY 2027 cybersecurity budgets account for more than $10.2B, representing approximately 84% of the total civilian cyber budget. Their collective budgets have increased slightly from FY 2026 levels and grown by $300M from FY 2025, though the picture is decidedly mixed when viewed agency by agency.

At more than $3.0B, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remains the dominant force in civilian cybersecurity by a wide margin, given its enterprise-wide cybersecurity mission through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and other components. DHS’s $3.0B request for FY 2027, while still the largest by far, represents a decline of approximately $222M (-7%) from its FY 2026 level.

Other notable observations among the top ten for FY 2027:

• Justice (DOJ) sees the largest proportional increase of any major department, with its FY 2027 request of $1.3B representing a gain of $312M, (+33%) from FY 2026.
• Energy (DOE) remains relatively stable, requesting nearly $1.1B (+1%) after a nearly 10% increase in FY 2026.
• Veterans Affairs (VA), which saw a $251M (+25%) increase in FY 2026, pulls back in FY 2027 with a request of nearly $1.1B, a $165M (-13%) decline.
• Health and Human Services (HHS) also declines $94M (-10%) in FY 2027, coming in at $821M.
• State also shows significant growth, with an increase of $175M (+27%) to reach $809M.
• Treasury (Treas) requests $734M for FY 2027, is down $80M (-10%) from FY 2026, continuing a multi-year downward trend after its FY 2025 level topped $1.0B.
• Transportation (DOT) requests $617M for FY 2027, up about $60M (+11%) from FY 2026.
• Commerce (DOC) requests $428M (+10%), which would be nearly a full rebound after an 8% drop from FY 2025 to FY 2026.
• The Social Security Administration (SSA) seeks $330M for FY 2027, which would be a $28M (-8%) drop from FY 2026, but would be $78M (31%) above their FY 2025 level.

Closing Thoughts

The FY 2027 civilian cybersecurity budget picture is, in a word, uneven. While the overall top-line decline of roughly 2% from FY 2026 is relatively modest, it may be a signal that the era of consistent double-digit annual growth in civilian cyber budgets that we had seen up until a few years ago has settled down into a more “steady state” level where growth is more targeted. A handful of agencies do see some substantial increases, while several others are scaling back from recent highs. This is not uncommon, historically. For industry, the practical implication is that growth opportunities in the civilian cybersecurity market may continue to be increasingly concentrated among a smaller set of agencies, making it even more important to understand where agency priorities and supporting budgets have momentum heading into the new fiscal year.

Modernizing and securing federal networks is one of six major pillars of the Trump Administration’s recently updated cyber strategy. The strategy seeks to increase the rate of IT modernization and build greater resilience of federal information systems through cybersecurity best practices, post-quantum cryptography, zero-trust architecture, cloud transition, and AI-powered cybersecurity tools. Addressing these priorities, and other cybersecurity requirements, will likely require sustained investments in advancing technologies, evolving workforces and purposeful industry support.

_____

For more analysis on the FY 2027 Federal Budget check out our report, FY 2027 Federal Budget Request: Priorities and Opportunities.