In April, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released its fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget request with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the midst of a partial agency shutdown that lasted for weeks after the budget release. Even with the ongoing debate on priorities and operations for key departmental agencies, the FY 2027 budget places DHS among the highest-funded civilian departments.

DHS Total Discretionary Funding and Technology Priorities

DHS’s proposed FY 2027 budget provides $63.0B in total discretionary budget, 3.2% below the FY 2026 continuing resolution (CR) level. An additional $28.4B for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is provided for disaster response, recovery and resilience.

Below are some budget highlights from several DHS component agencies and directorates, along with examples of technology investments described within their budget justifications sent to Congress.

• Customs and Border Protection. Allocates $18.5B for CBP to invest in counter-narcotics technology, air/marine fleet recapitalization, commercial environment modernization and radiation monitoring.
  • Allots $102M to modernize CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment trade processing architecture to automate cargo entries, duties, taxes and fees.
• U.S. Coast Guard. Supplies $14.1B for the USCG to implement the Force Design 2028 modernization initiative and invest in Arctic infrastructure, unmanned systems, offshore patrol cutters and deployable specialized forces.
  • Adds $527M to procure two GPS III Follow-On satellites.
  • Supplies $50.0M for the Coastal Sentinel integrated sensor network program at USCG to leverage artificial intelligence and advanced technology to identify borders and maritime threats.
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Requests $10.0B for ICE to support immigration enforcement operations and expands legal advisor network.
• Transportation Security Administration. Supplies $6.1B to the TSA for checkpoint screening technology, biometric credential authentication and e-Gates. The budget expands private screening partnerships and workforce right-sizing.
• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Provides $2.5B to the (CISA), a decrease of $386M (-13.4%) from the FY 2026 CR level.
  • Operations and Support accounts for $2.0B, with $421M for technology and infrastructure acquisition and $44M for R&D.
• Science and Technology Directorate. Requests $73.9M at the (S&T) to support cyber, infrastructure and national resiliency research and development efforts, including AI security and assurance technologies.
• Office of the Secretary and Executive Management. Requests $2.6M for OSEM and proposes reorganizing DHS headquarters functions to consolidate the Management Directorate (MGMT), the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A), and the Office of Situational Awareness (OSA) into a single OSEM, reporting to the DHS Secretary.
  • Provides $928M for the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) to support IT operations, enterprise architecture and cybersecurity program support across the department.

DHS Information Technology and Cybersecurity Budgets

For FY 2027, DHS’s total budget request for Information Technology (IT) is $11.7B, a $982M (+9.2%) increase from the FY 2026 estimated level. In addition, DHS is planning to spend $3.0B on department-wide cybersecurity activities. For the second budget cycle running, OMB has not released programmatic details of agency IT budgets for FY 2027, only releasing summary tables for agency topline IT and cybersecurity budgets.

Normally, over the last decade or more, we would be looking for IT program details for DHS and other agencies to be provided as part of OMB’s IT Portfolio (or Exhibit 53, in legacy terminology), typically posted to OMB’s IT Dashboard web site. However, like so much in the federal landscape, things are changing.

OMB has recently posted a notice to the IT Dashboard that they are sunsetting the site as it reevaluates and reforms the best means of “providing a credible, accessible window into IT spending, performance, and decision-making.” In the meantime, “agencies will pivot to a streamlined state that refocuses on statutorily required data” that will continue to be made publicly available.

OMB did not provide a timeline for this, so we will be watching for what comes next.