Department of Homeland Security

subagencies: CBP, CISA, FEMA, ICE, TSA, USCIS

Created in the wake of the September 11 attacks, the Department of Homeland Security is a massive agency which contains variety of agencies concerned with law enforcement, immigration, disaster response and even cybersecurity.

DHS contains the following agencies where DOGE has had linked activities: - Customs and Border Patrol (CPB): the agency that secures America’s border (and can act 100 miles within from any of those borders). This is also the agency that collects tariff duties. - Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA): a centralized clearinghouse and coordinator for defense of America’s physical and network infrastructure. This is also the agency that must be notified when breaches of government systems occur. - Federal Emergency Management (FEMA): the agency for coordinating federal responses to natural disasters - Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): the agency that handles immigration arrests. The Trump administration is looking to dramatically expand its size and scope for detentions and deportations. - Transportation Security Administration (TSA): this agency handles security at airports. DOGE is reportedly involved with activities in this agency, but there are no details on this. - US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): the agency that supports legal immigration and naturalization to America has been targeted by DOGE for reductions and to create a new $5 million immigration visa.

Positions

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Name Positions
Edward Coristine
GSA c.2/04 likely detailed Senior Advisor «Date unverified, but assuming predates sighting at FEMA»
Kyle Schutt
GSA c.2/19 likely detailed
CISA DHS 2/19 likely detailed Senior Advisor
Antoine McCord
DHS 3/11 appointed Chief Information Officer
Payton Rehling
SSA date unknown likely detailed
Allan Mangaser
OPM 4/XX likely detailed «Based on reports talked to TSA and CISA, assuming detail to DHS»
Anthony Armstrong
OPM date unknown likely detailed «NYT reports he left OPM in April but stayed on a DHS. Unclear of timing, later appointed at DHS»
Left govt c.10/07
Marko Elez
DOL date unknown likely detailed
Luke Farritor
GSA date unknown likely detailed «linked to DHS by NYT, no other info»
Gavin Kliger
OPM date unknown likely detailed
Aram Moghaddassi
DOL date unknown likely detailed

Systems

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System Access
CIS The CIS contains information about immigrants who use Alien Numbers, or A-Numbers.
ELIS ELIS acts as a case management system for USCIS and includes information about green cards and petitions, as well as details related to Temporary Protected Status and DACA applicants
FEMA-Go A system for managing grant program for communities affected by disasters
IFMIS
A system for processing all FEMA grant payments
Office365 Microsoft Office 365 is used for agency email and knowledge management systems.
SAVE An online service for agencies to verify immigration status and naturalized/acquired U.S. citizenship of applicants seeking benefits or licenses.
DBIS A system for tracking payments and business operations of USCIS

Events

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Date Event
2/08 DHS
The DOGE social media account on X boasts about deleting a page of LGBTQI+ resources that was part of the DHS website.
2/10 FEMA
Kyle Schutt is granted access to the FEMA Grant Outcomes (FEMA GO) system that is used by FEMA for tracking disaster and other grants across America. He is also given access to the source code for FEMA’s Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS) which processes payments.
2/10 DHS
In a meeting providing him with an overview of DHS programs, Kyle Schutt stuns federal staff in the Office of Civil Rights by declaring one of their programs (CRCL) looks like money laundering.
2/10 DHS
Edward Coristine appears in an online DHS staff directory with the title of Senior Advisor.
c.2/11 FEMA
In a meeting, Kyle Schutt asks FEMA staff about the viability of deobligating appropriated funds for the agency, in essence returning the money to Treasury rather than using it for its appropriated purpose.
2/11 FEMA
The Chief Financial Officer of FEMA, Mary Comans, is abruptly fired and her departure is announced in a FEMA press release.
2/19 CISA
Edward Coristine and Kyle Schutt are reportedly given elevated access to CISA systems, including documents and staff emails.
2/26 DHS
Republican lawmakers on the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security unanimously opposed a resolution of inquiry into DOGE activities at DHS.
March 2025
3/01 DHS, DOL, Education, OPM, SSA, Treasury
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) starts an audit of how DOGE has handled data at several agencies.
3/XX DHS
Kyle Schutt and Edward Coristine repeatedly pressure staff over the next two months at DHS to use Grok, a chatbot from Elon Musk’s xAI, despite the fact it had not been approved for use in the agency. A DHS spokesperson later denied the allegations.
3/19 DHS, DOD, EPA, GSA
During a discussion on how to strip grants from the University of Pennsylvania and San Jose State, GSA FAS Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum sends an email to coordinate grant freezes from DOD, DHS and the EPA. He includes DOGE staffers Kyle Schutt, Adam Hoffman and Kathryn Armstrong Loving as the recipients of these requests.
3/21 DHS
The Trump administration eliminates the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and two ombudsman offices responsible for investigating allegations of abuse from immigrants. This also includes the CRCL program that was characterized as “money laundering” by DOGE staffer Kyle Schutt.
c.3/24 CISA, NLRB
NLRB networking staff make a formal report to US-CERT at CISA of the suspicious activity they had detected from DOGE’s activities at the agency. (fuzz: Source mentions it was on or about this date)
c.3/25 ICE, IRS
At a meeting on data sharing, an official from ICE requests that the IRS should create a service where DHS staff could simply provide the names and states of potential targets and get a list of all applicable addresses. IRS lawyers are stunned by the possible illegality and continued pressure leads to a series of resignations among staff in legal, privacy and IT offices within the IRS.
3/28 USCIS
USCIS CIO William McElhaney sends a message to DHS Deputy Secretary asking them to review access that was granted to DOGE staffers Kyle Schutt, Edward Coristine, Aram Moghaddassi and Payton Rehling.
April 2025
4/04 CISA, NLRB
CISA informs NLRB networking staff that they should drop any investigation and not move forward on any reporting of the suspicious activity at the agency.
4/07 DHS, ICE, IRS, Treasury
The IRS and DHS execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for data sharing between both agencies. Although DOGE is not named specifically in this agreement, ICE is allowed to designate authorized individuals to access the shared data. AI usage must also be reviewed first by the IRS.
4/07 DHS, ICE, SSA
After some qualms about its legality, Leland Dudek signs two memos authorizing sharing data from the Social Security Administration that would allow DHS and ICE to locate immigrants who had been paying taxes to Social Security (despite not being able to collect it).
4/11 DHS
Politico profiles a DOGE immigration task force that is located within DHS but has contacts with DOGE staff at other agencies. It includes multiple DOGE staffers detailed from various agencies.
4/12? DHS, SSA
The Social Security Administration shares sensitive information on 100,000 people with DHS, including their addresses, social security numbers, birth and death dates and bank information. Leland Dudek reports this request was made via a phone call late on a Saturday night with the justification that it was needed for a criminal investigation. (fuzz: Date isn’t given, assuming this is after Leland Dudek signed data sharing agreement, but it’s possible agreement was retroactive cover)
May 2025
5/06 DHS
DOGE staff are reportedly working within the Office of Biometric Management (OBIM) at DHS which oversees the biometric systems IDENT and HART, giving them access to the largest database of biometric identifiers in the world.
5/12 CISA
CISA announces that it will cease posting many cybersecurity alerts on its website and instead only send them to email or X. After a public outcry, it reverses this decision.
5/12 DHS
The Department of Homeland Security issues a subpoena to the state of California and Los Angeles County to demand records from a cash assistance program for immigrants (CAPI).
5/23 DHS
Reuters reports that DOGE staffers Kyle Schutt and Edward Coristine have attempted to gain access to DHS employee emails in recent months and ordered staff to train AI to identify communications suggesting an employee is not “loyal” to Trump’s political agenda. Given earlier reports, the AI in question is like xAi’s “Grok” AI system.
5/23 DHS, DOJ
In a podcast appearance, Antonio Gracias reported that the Department of Justice had requested for DOGE to find “10-20 cases” of alleged noncitizen voting in every state.
June 2025
6/XX ICE, IRS
A lawyer at ICE proposes expanding the original data sharing MOU between the agency to also support requesting data on US citizens and lawful permanent residents (it had been limited to undocumented immigrants previously). Anthony DeMello rejected this change at the IRS and insisted that senior leadership at Treasury would have to sign off on this due to possible legal risks. (fuzz: meeting date not given)
6/04 ICE
A $47 million dollar contract for expanding a major immigration facility in Georgia is paused pending review by DOGE under a new policy that requires review for any DHS contract worth more than $20 million. Previously, DHS had been exempt from such spending controls by DOGE.
6/06 CMS, DHS, HHS
Medicaid staff at CMS are ordered by CMS and HHS leadership to immediately share with DHS data from Medicaid program in certain states that allow non-US citizens to be enrolled. This information could be used by ICE to target and deport immigrants who are legally collecting state benefits.
6/18 DHS, FEMA, ICE, TSA, USCIS
Following the guidance in EO 14222, DHS head Kristi Noem demands that every contract and grant worth more than $100,000 must be explicitly reviewed and approved by her. This particularly alarms staff at FEMA who warn that it will destroy the agency’s ability to respond to disasters in a timely manner.
6/25 ICE, IRS
Although he was considered more friendly to the Trump admininstration and DOGE, Andrew DeMello, the acting general counsel for the IRS refuses to turn over the addresses of 7.3 million taxpayers that had been requested by ICE. He declares there are multiple legal “deficiencies” with the request that do not meet the legal safeguards that were listed in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for this process, which declared that such data could only be shared for open criminal investigations.
July 2025
7/08 FEMA
Funds for FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program (SSP) normally used for disaster relief are redirected to instead provide $608.4 million to ICE for the construction of an immigration detention camp in the Florida Everglades. This anount is only slightly smaller than the entire 2025 budget for the program, which has only $83.5 million in reserve for this fiscal year. Possibly, DOGE aide Kyle Schutt might have assisted in finding money by deobligating other grants.
7/10 FEMA
As predicted by experts, the newly created process that mandates that all contracts above $100,000 must be reviewed and approved by agency head Kristi Noem delayed the ability of FEMA to proactively respond to disastrous flash flooding in central Texas. For instance, FEMA could not get approval to stage Search and Rescue teams in the area before the disaster. The agency also was unable to approve additional staff for outreach and responding to calls from affected Americans.
7/16 CMS, DHS, HHS, ICE
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Access (CMS) within HHS have reportedly signed a deal to deliver information on all 79 million enrollees in Medicaid to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This information, which includes the addresses and ethnicities of enrollees, will supercharge a surveillance machine assembled by DOGE that is being used by ICE to arrest undocumented immigrants (and others).
7/22 FEMA
The head of FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue unit resigns, protesting that the new cost controls created by DOGE and Kristi Noem is causing chaos inside of the agency and will lead to deadly delays during a disaster.
August 2025
8/25 FEMA
More than 190 current and former FEMA employees sign their name to a public letter on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, criticizing agency leadership for destroying the capabilities of the agency and violating the requirements of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006. While most were anonymous, 35 employees gave their real names and were immediately placed on administrative leave under investigation. Due to DOGE and Kristi Noem’s clamp-down on spending, the agency has more than $700 million in disaster funding that is still to be approved. In addition, a third of the agency’s staff had departed by May, reducing the capacity and institutional wisdom of the agency to respond to disasters.
September 2025
9/19 GSA, ICE
A GSA-created “ICE surge team” that was formed to rapidly lease office space for ICE to operate in various cities is reportedly struggling due to the effects of DOGE cuts – despite overwhelming work, the team is only half the size it should be due to DOGE staffing cuts and is often forced to rent back space at elevated rates from landlords who were harmed by DOGE’s lease-cancellation efforts.
9/20 Commerce, NDS, USCIS
The Trump administration revamps the “Gold Card Visa” site that was originally launched in June. The visa now will cost $1 million and be an expedited EB-1 or EB-2 visa; the original proposal has been rebranded as the platinum card, which will be “coming soon.” The legality of this program still remains wildly unclear and demand is inflated because sign-up is through a public web form. This website is the first public work of recently-formed National Design Studio, although the previous version of the site was built by DOGE too.
9/30 DHS, DOJ, SSA
Several nonprofit organizations led by the League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit against the DOGE-led project to add Social Security data and expand the usage of the SAVE database for invalidating voter registrations. The suit alleges that this process violated the Privacy Act but also is an unconstitutional abridgement of state ownership for elections.