U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) led a wide-ranging DHS hearing Tuesday as chair of the Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee, pressing DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin on topics from violent riots at an ICE facility to the toll of repeated government shutdowns on his workforce.
Britt opened by condemning the situation unfolding at the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in New Jersey, where protests have escalated into violence against law enforcement.
“All Americans have the right to protest the government, and you will meet no bigger supporter of the First Amendment than myself, but the situation we’ve seen unfolding at the facility goes well beyond peaceful protest,” Britt said. “It’s simply not acceptable to assault ICE officers or obstruct lawful federal operations.”
Mullin painted a stark picture of the damage repeated government shutdowns have inflicted on his department. DHS endured a 76-day shutdown — the longest in government history — and four total shutdowns in a single year. The department lost roughly 8% of its workforce as a result.
“Without people, it doesn’t make any difference what you implement, you’re going to fall short,” Mullin said. “I inherited the greatest group of people, the most dedicated patriotic workforce in the nation because they’re all there, working, still showing up for free. But some people couldn’t sustain it.”
Britt also took aim at the administration’s own budget proposal for cutting nearly $27 million from the National Computer Forensics Institute in Hoover, an Alabama-based facility that trains state and local law enforcement to combat cybercrime, financial fraud, and online exploitation through a partnership with the U.S. Secret Service.
“I don’t need to tell you, Mr. Secretary, that computer crimes are only becoming more sophisticated, and that we need more points of security by state and local officials, not fewer,” Britt said.
She also expressed frustration with congressional Democrats for refusing to fund ICE and Border Patrol through the bipartisan appropriations process in FY26, calling the move “truly uncharted territory” and voicing support for passing the reconciliation bill to fill the gap.
Britt closed by reaffirming her support for FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, backing a recommendation from the FEMA Review Council to strengthen the facility rather than replace it.
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
