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Chairman Mark E. Green Page 2 unwilling, or unable to provide answers to the inquiries Members have made about changes to the Department's workforce, programs, and offices. As hurricane season approaches, cyber threat actors grow bolder and more sophisticated, and U.S. citizens and permanent residents are being detained and even deported by immigration officials, we owe it to our constituents to ensure the Department is carrying out its mission to defend the homeland while following the law. The Trump administration approach to national security has only grown more irresponsible since February 11. Just this week, we learned that top Trump administration officials engaged in a disturbingly cavalier conversation about imminent military operations via Signal, a commercial open-source messaging application. By all accounts, none of the participants in the Signal chat appeared surprised that a conversation relating to such grave subject matter was transpiring in that forum. We can only presume that means Signal is commonly used by administration officials to discuss sensitive, and potentially classified, information. We must have the opportunity to engage the Secretary on this important issue. The impacts of the administration's recklessness are compounded by its continued attacks on the Department. On March 7, 2025, Secretary Noem moved to end collective bargaining and union rights for Transportation Security Administration workersa blatantly political attack against employee unions that have been instrumental in stemming the agency's catastrophic attrition rates. The courts will ultimately decide the legality of this counterproductive union busting, but in the meantime, it places transportation security at risk in the middle of the spring break travel season. On March 21, 2025, DHS eliminated three of its internal watchdogs, including the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman.' The 300 employees staffing those offices promoted liberty, fairness, and equality in DHS programs and activities, and addressed complaints about the immigration system. Dismantling these offices was nothing other than a blatant attempt to remove any guardrails as Trump subverts the rule of law. Additionally, the Trump administration terminated nearly 20 percent of the DHS workforce focused on preventing terrorism and targeted violence. Dismantling DHS's terrorism prevention office when DHS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been consistently warning about heightened terrorism threats is irrational.' During a televised cabinet meeting on March 24, 2025, Secretary Noem made the shocking declaration, "We're going to eliminate FEMA."3 She and other administration officials reportedly met the next day to make plans to dismantle the agency.' These outrageous remarks and subsequent action are especially alarming given that the Nation is still recovering from the 'Maria Sacchetti and Ellie Silverman,DHS Shuts Down Internal Watchdog Agencies ThatAdvocated For Immigrants,WASH.POST(Mar. 21,2025),https://www.wasliingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/03/21/dhs- immigrant-advocates-watchdogs-oversight/. z HannahAllam,Killing Grants That Have Saved Lives: Trump's Cuts Signal End to Government Work on Terrorism Prevention,PROPUBLICA(Mar. 20,2025),https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-doge-budget-cuts-terrorism- prevention. 'Rachel Frazin,Noem Says She Plans to Eliminate FE114',THE HILL(Mar. 25,2025), https://theliill.com/policy/energy-environment/5213057-noem-plans-eliminate-fema/.