Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2022

On May 28, 2021, the Joseph R. Biden Administration released its annual budget request for FY2022, including a $90.80 billion budget request for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The request included $53.99 billion in adjusted net discretionary appropriations and $18.80 billion in disaster relief-designated funds. This was $1.11 billion more than was enacted for DHS in FY2021, although those FY2021 annual appropriations also included $840 million in emergency funding to cover U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) fee shortfalls not included in the total. On June 30, 2021, the House Committee on Appropriations marked up H.R. 4431, its version of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2022. H.Rept. 117-87 was filed on July 15, 2021. Committee-reported H.R. 4431 included $52.80 billion in adjusted net discretionary budget authority. This was $183 million below the level requested by the Administration and $928 million above the FY2021 enacted level. H.R. 4431 was not brought to the House floor before the end of FY2021—one of two annual appropriations measures for FY2022 to be reported by the House Appropriations Committee that did not get floor consideration. As no annual appropriations for FY2022 had been signed into law before the end of FY2021, a continuing resolution was enacted (P.L. 117-43), temporarily extending funding for the federal government at the FY2021 rate for operations through December 3, 2021, including most DHS components and programs. This continuing resolution would ultimately be extended three times to fund continued government operations through March 15, 2022. On October 18, 2021, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy released drafts of nine appropriations measures that had yet to be marked up by the committee, along with draft explanatory statements for each. Vice Chairman Senator Richard Shelby criticized the move as partisan and unilateral, and indicated he would not support the bills, and that an agreement on overall spending levels was needed to produce bills he would support. A week later, a bill identical to the draft was introduced by Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on the Department of Homeland Security Chairman Senator Christopher Murphy. The Senate Appropriations Committee majority draft bill for DHS for FY2022 included $52.92 billion in adjusted net discretionary budget authority. This was $70 million below the level requested by the Administration, and $1.04 billion above the enacted annual level for FY2021. Supplemental appropriations were provided three times for DHS before its annual appropriations were resolved. Divisions B and C of P.L. 117-43 included $50 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $193 million for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, respectively. Division B of P.L. 117-70 provided $147.5 million for the DHS Office of the Secretary and Executive Management for DHS component expenses related to Operation Allies Welcome. In addition, Division J of P.L. 117-58, which was enacted on November 15, 2021, included a range of supplemental appropriations, including a total of $7.96 billion for DHS, $3.08 billion of which would be available in FY2022. On March 9, 2022, the House took up a consolidated appropriations measure as an amendment to H.R. 2471 (an unrelated bill). After dividing the question, presenting the measure for approval in two multi-division segments, the House passed the portion with Division F, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2022 by a vote of 361-69. The Senate agreed to the House amendment the next day by a vote of 68-31, and President Biden signed the measure into law on March 15, 2022, as P.L. 117-103. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Division F included $57.50 billion in adjusted net discretionary budget authority. This was $5.03 billion above the level requested by the Administration, and $5.62 billion above the enacted level for FY2021. This report provides an overview and analysis of FY2022 appropriations for the DHS. The primary focus of the report is on the funding provided to DHS through the appropriations process. It includes an Appendix with definitions of key budget terms used throughout the suite of Congressional Research Service reports on homeland security appropriations. It also directs the reader to other reports providing context for specific component appropriations.