[House Report 119-11]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
119th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 119-11
======================================================================
DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO TRANSMIT TO THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES CERTAIN DOCUMENTS RELATING TO DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY POLICIES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE SECURITY OF DEPARTMENT
INFORMATION AND DATA AND THE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF ITS WORKFORCE
_______
March 5, 2025.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Green of Tennessee, from the Committee on Homeland Security,
submitted the following
ADVERSE REPORT
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
[To accompany H. Res. 113]
The Committee on Homeland Security, to whom was referred
the resolution (H. Res. 113) directing the Secretary of
Homeland Security to transmit to the House of Representatives
certain documents relating to Department of Homeland Security
policies and activities related to the security of Department
information and data and the recruitment and retention of its
workforce, having considered the same, reports unfavorably
thereon without amendment and recommends that the resolution
not be agreed to.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 2
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 2
Hearings......................................................... 2
Committee Consideration.......................................... 2
Committee Votes.................................................. 2
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 4
C.B.O. Estimate, New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and
Tax Expenditures............................................... 4
Federal Mandates Statement....................................... 4
Duplicative Federal Programs..................................... 4
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 4
Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff
Benefits....................................................... 4
Advisory Committee Statement..................................... 4
Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................. 4
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 4
Minority Views................................................... 6
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H. Res. 113 directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to
transmit to the House of Representatives certain documents
relating to Department of Homeland Security policies and
activities related to the security of Department information
and data and the recruitment and retention of its workforce.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Clause 7 of House Rule XIII provides that, if properly
drafted, a resolution of inquiry is provided special
parliamentary status allowing the Committee to which the
measure was referred to be discharged if the Committee has not
reported the measure back to the House within 14 legislative
days after its introduction. The Committee notes that the
consideration of this resolution of inquiry is to have the
Committee comply with rule XIII; it does not affect the
Committee's obligation or commitment to investigate and require
documentation from the Administration on issues within the
Committee's jurisdictional authorities. The Committee will
investigate any credible allegation of misconduct in the
Executive Branch to the extent that such allegations fall
within the Committee's jurisdiction.
HEARINGS
No hearings were held to inform H. Res. 113 during the
119th Congress.
COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Committee met on February 26, 2025, a quorum being
present, to consider H. Res. 113 and ordered the measure to be
unfavorably reported to the House.
COMMITTEE VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII requires the Committee to list the
recorded votes on the motion to report legislation and
amendments thereto. The Committee on Homeland Security
considered H. Res. 113 on February 26, 2025, and took the
following votes:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII, the
Committee advises that the findings and recommendations of the
Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1)
of rule X, are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this
report.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE, NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT
AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES
Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII and section 308(a) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and clause 3(c)(3) of rule
XIII and section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974,
are inapplicable because H. Res. 113 does not provide any new
budget authority, spending authority, or increase or decrease
in revenues or tax expenditures. The Committee expects that H.
Res. 113 does not produce any budgetary effects.
FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT
An estimate of Federal mandates prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Committee
finds that no Federal mandates are included in the resolution.
DUPLICATIVE FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Pursuant to clause 3(c) of rule XIII, the Committee finds
that H. Res. 113 does not contain any provision that
establishes or reauthorizes a program known to be duplicative
of another Federal program.
STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the objective of
H. Res. 113 is to obtain documents and information from the
Department of Homeland Security.
CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS, LIMITED TAX BENEFITS, AND LIMITED TARIFF
BENEFITS
In compliance with rule XXI, this bill, as reported,
contains no congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or
limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or
9(f) of rule XXI.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b)
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this
legislation.
APPLICABILITY TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that H. Res. 113 does not relate to the
terms and conditions of employment or access to public services
or accommodation within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of the
Congressional Accountability Act.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION
This resolution directs the Secretary of Homeland Security
to provide the Committee with documents and information related
to Department of Homeland Security personnel management and
access to Department information systems and data by the
Department of Government Efficiency.
MINORITY VIEWS
H. Res. 113 is a resolution of inquiry that demands
information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
regarding Trump administration actions that put DHS information
systems and data at risk and jeopardizes its workforce.
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order
14158, Establishing and Implementing the President's
``Department of Government Efficiency [(DOGE)]'', which renamed
the U.S. Digital Service\1\ the U.S. DOGE Service.\2\ Unelected
billionaire Elon Musk is leading DOGE and has recruited
``young, inexperienced engineers'' that have gained access to
sensitive information systems across Federal networks that
store data on agency operations, Federal employees, and
millions of Americans.\3\ According to Alan Butler of the
Electronic Privacy Information Center: ``The scale here is
unprecedented in terms of the risk to sensitive personal and
financial information. . . It's an absolute nightmare.''\4\ In
February, DOGE began rummaging through information systems at
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
Secretary Noem welcomed DOGE, apparently refusing to serve as a
check on its activity within her Department.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\The U.S. Digital Service was founded by Obama Administration in
2014 following the glitchy roll out of Healthcare.gov. It was intended
to be a strike team to support digital capabilities across government
and has some special hiring authorities.
\2\Establishing and Implementing the President's ``Department of
Government Efficiency'', 90 Fed. Reg. 8441 (Jan. 20, 2025), https://
www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/29/2025-02005/establishing-
and-implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency.
Executive Order 14158 tasks DOGE with initiating a ``Software
Modernization Initiative to improve the quality and efficiency of
government-wide software, network infrastructure, and information
technology (IT) systems.'' Id.
\3\John MacDougal, The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon
Musk's Government Takeover, Wired, Feb. 2, 2025, https://www.wired.com/
story/elon-musk-government-young-
engineers/.
\4\Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney, DOGE's access to federal data is
`an absolute nightmare,' legal experts warn, Politico, Feb. 3, 2025,
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/03/doge-treasury-usaid-donald-
trump-011538.
\5\Aileen Graef & Veronica Stracqualursi, Homeland Security
Secretary Noem says DOGE team has access to agency data, CNN, Feb. 9,
2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/09/politics/noem-homeland-security-
doge-musk-cnntv/index.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also on January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a hiring
freeze on all Federal civilian employees, including
cybersecurity employees across government at agencies like CISA
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).\6\ All
recruitment and onboarding activities for pending hires,
including FBI agent classes, have been suspended. DHS has not
provided the Committee any details on frozen positions or
exemptions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\Hiring Freeze Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments
and Agencies, 90 Fed. Reg. 8247 (Jan. 20, 2025), https://
www.federalregister.gov/documents/202501/28/2025-01905/hiring-freeze.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a sweeping effort to reduce the Federal workforce, the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email to Federal
employees on January 28 entitled ``Fork in the Road'', offering
them the opportunity to resign immediately and get paid through
September (i.e., deferred resignation).\7\ Several DHS
components were exempted from this offer but many were
eligible, including most of FEMA, CISA, the Office of Health
Security, the Science & Technology Directorate, the Office for
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and the Privacy Office. To
date, DHS has not provided the Committee the information it
requested on the number of its employees who accepted the
deferred resignation offer. OPM claims roughly 75,000 accepted
across the Federal Government.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\Deferred Resignation Email to Federal Employees, OPM, Jan. 28,
2025, https://www.opm.gov/fork/original-email-to-employees/.
\8\Garrett Haake & Megan Lebowitz, White House says about 75K
federal workers accepted `deferred resignation' offer, NBC News, Feb.
12, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/white-house-
says-75000-accepted-federal-buyout-trump-rcna191971.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The President also directed the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) to develop a plan to shrink the Federal workforce
and directed all Federal departments and agencies to submit to
OPM a list of all probationary employees within 4 days. The
directive noted that all probationary employees can be
``terminated during that period without triggering appeal
rights.''\9\ On February 14, President Trump and Co-President
Musk fired more than 400 probationary employees at DHS within
CISA, FEMA, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.\10\
Adding to those firings, the following week, TSA terminated 243
employees.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\Erica L. Green, et al., Trump's Moves to Upend Federal
Bureaucracy Touch Off Fear and Confusion, N.Y. Times, Jan. 25, 2025,
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/25/us/politics/trump-federal-
workers.html.
\10\Nicole Sganga & Camilo Montoya-Galvez, Trump administration
fires over 400 DHS employees as mass firings continue, CBS News, Feb.
16, 2025, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-fires-over-
400-dhs-employees/.
\11\Ellen M. Gilmer, TSA Cuts Hundreds of Jobs as Trump Moves Rile
Federal Workforce, Bloomberg Gov't, Feb. 20, 2025, https://
www.bgov.com/next/news/SRZJXTDWRGG0.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
H. Res. 113 demands that DHS be transparent and accountable
to Congress about Musk's DOGE access to DHS information systems
and data. To date, neither DHS nor the White House have
provided sufficient information to Congress about how DOGE
employees have been vetted, which information systems and data
DOGE employees are accessing, or what DOGE employees are doing
with the data they are accessing. It is an unacceptable
security risk. Additionally, the resolution demands information
about the security implications of the government-wide hiring
freeze the President implemented on his first day in office,
which has prevented the recruitment and onboarding of sought-
after talent critical to homeland security.
Since no one at DHS appears willing to protect its mission
from Musk's DOGE team, the Committee on Homeland Security must
step up. Sadly, by adversely reporting this resolution of
inquiry, Republicans are either too afraid to raise their
concerns about the chaos caused by the DOGE, or they callously
support it.
Bennie G. Thompson.
[all]