Trump Budget Seeks TSA Privatization, Cuts to Cyber, FEMA (1)

The Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 budget request proposes initial steps to privatize the Transportation Security Administration.

The proposal includes a $52 million reduction for TSA tied to requiring smaller airports to enroll in the Screening Partnership Program, an existing system under which private contractors—paid by TSA—handle passenger screening. The administration said airports already using the program have demonstrated cost savings compared with federal screening operations.

The budget request, which signals the administration’s priorities for the coming year, would accelerate a years-long push among some Republicans to reduce TSA’s federal footprint and rely more heavily on private operators, a model the White House and supporters argue improves efficiency.

“The move would yield cost savings compared to Federal screening and begin reform of a troubled Federal agency,” the budget proposal says.

Beyond TSA, the budget request proposes scaling back the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency by $707 million compared to its last funding level by cutting programs focused on combating misinformation. Conservatives have panned that work as censorship.

The plan also calls for consolidating several headquarters functions into one office. Those include DHS’s intelligence arm, as well as the secretary’s office, the department’s management directorate, and a “situational awareness” office for a cost savings of $53 million, according to the request.

The budget would also end or reduce some Federal Emergency Management Agency grant funding, including programs such as Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention, part of what the administration describes as efforts to eliminate “wasteful” spending.

At the same time, the proposal maintains investments in immigration enforcement and border security, consistent with President Donald Trump’s hard-line agenda.

In all, DHS would get $63 billion in discretionary funding for fiscal 2026, a 3.3 percent cut from its last stopgap funding level before appropriations lapsed in February, according to the request.