Lawmakers push for more cyber funds in annual appropriations

Lawmakers are increasingly pushing for Congress to increase funding in numerous areas to boost the nation’s cybersecurity, particularly after multiple major breaches and a year in which hackers have increasingly targeted critical infrastructure.

House Homeland Security Committee ranking member John Katko (R-N.Y.) is leading the effort, submitting a budget proposal this week, provided to The Hill, that calls for increasing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) budget by 25 percent in the next fiscal year.

The overall amount Katko requested that Congress appropriate for CISA, the key federal agency in charge of securing critical infrastructure, was $2.5 billion, higher than President Biden’s proposed $2.1 billion for the agency’s budget in fiscal year 2021.

CISA is not the only area where House lawmakers are hoping to see increased cybersecurity investments made.

Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), and Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) sent a separate letter to the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday asking for funding to secure communications networks.