Senator Ricketts Blames Democrats for Cybersecurity Cuts
By Gordon Hopins
In a recent press conference, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts put the blame for cybersecurity staffing cuts on Democrats, accusing them of putting the nation’s cybersecurity at risk.
The Trump administration’s budget for fiscal year 2027 includes slashing the budget at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which defends critical infrastructure against threats, by $707 million. This comes at a time of increased threat of retaliation by Iran due to the ongoing war. Such retaliation may take the form of cyberattacks in critical infrastructure, both from Iran-linked cyber operators and pro-Iranian “hacktivists.”
According to CISA, “Iranian government-affiliated actors routinely target poorly secured U.S. networks and internet-connected devices. Recent Iranian state-sponsored activity includes malicious cyber operations against operational technology devices by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated advanced persistent threat (APT) cyber actors.”
Homeland Security Fight
There is currently an ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), driven by partisan gridlock over immigration policy. Democrats have targeted funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), demanding significant reforms.
Senator Ricketts said, “It is correct that Iran is one of the adversaries we have that attacks us through cyber means on a constant basis, and because the Democrats refuse to fund Homeland Security, the Cyber Infrastructure agency, Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, that normally protects us from those cyberattacks, was forced to lay off about 1,200 or 2,000 people. So, the Democrats actually put us at risk for cyberattacks broadly and specifically, while we’ve got a conflict in the Middle East. And that is part of why we need to get back to refunding Homeland Security to be able to make sure that we have those folks in their positions to be able to defend us. So, Democrats really did put Nebraskans and Americans at risk by doing this.”
However, the senator also acknowledged, “My understanding is the President, through his executive order, did get those people back to work.”
Previous CISA Cuts
In 2025, well before the DHS shutdown, 998 CISA employees quit, were laid off or transferred, 65 of those being forced reassignments to other agencies.
In an effort to cut spending at the federal level, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative of President Donald Trump’s administration intended to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse,” eliminated some of the services provided by CISA.
For the fiscal year 2026 budget, the trump Administration proposed to cut $495 million from CISA’s budget. Tye budget that finally passed reduced funding by roughly $135 million.
Local Impact
There are many ways in which federal budget cuts can impact local governments. One of those ways is cybersecurity.
At a meeting of Jefferson County Commissioners in March of 2025, Brad Eisenhauer, Jefferson County IT (Information Technology), explained, “So, the organizations we get some of our security updates from and such, especially the election stuff, unfortunately, we don’t get any more. They’ve been defunded, and federal money was cut, and they’re gone.”
In an interview at that time, U.S. Representative Don Bacon said, “The administration, I think, is misguided on the cuts that they’re trying to do to CISA and the reductions in manpower.”
CISA has since moved to a subscription model. Previously free, the cost to the county is now $995 annually.
Budget Recommendation
Regarding the proposed budget, Ricketts emphasized that it is a recommendation only, “Well, first of all, I would say that the president has a budget recommendation. As a former governor, I know that when you put together a budget recommendation, it is just that a recommendation that in our system of government, it’s actually the legislative branch that has control the purse strings. So, while we will take the President’s recommendations into consideration as we’re crafting our budget, it’s actually the legislative branch, the article one branch here that will actually be crafting that budget, and certainly you’ve got not only myself, who’s going to be working to fight for our farmers and ranchers to make sure we’ve got the funding to recover from the terrible fires we just experienced, we also have Senator (Deb) Fisher, who sits on the Appropriations Committee. So, we will be looking out for the best interest of Nebraskans.”
