Quick take DHS 2011 budget increased 3 percent, to $43.6 billion

Published 3 February 2010

The Obama administration’s proposed 2011 DHS budget increases the department budget by nearly 3 percent, to $43.6 billion; nearly $1 billion is devoted to bolstering airport security: TSA’s budget has been increased by $508.7 million, to $8.2 billion; by the end of 2011, nearly 1,000 whole-body scanners will be deployed in 75 percent of the U.S. largest airports; DHS also wants to spend $374 million on Explosive Detection Systems (EDS), which scan baggage for explosives, and $60 million to purchase 800 portable explosives trace detection (ETD) devices; an additional $71 million requested would fund 275 more explosive-sniffing K-9 teams at airline check points; DHS also wants to increase the number of TSA behavior detection officers by 350 at a price tag of $20.2 million

DHS received a nearly 3 percent boost in discretionary funding, to $43.6 billion, in President Obama’s 2011 budget. The money includes $200 million to pay state and local costs of securing terrorism-related trials; a 10 percent increase, to $950 million, for Federal Air Marshals; and $734 million to deploy up to 1,000 whole-body-imaging scanners at airports that use radio or X-rays to detect objects hidden beneath clothing.

Washington Post ’s Spencer S. Hsu writes that to pay for new ships, the Coast Guard would trim its 42,000 active-duty force by slightly more than 1,100 people. The Border Patrol, which has doubled over a decade to about 20,000 sworn agents, would shrink by about 180 agents to focus on maintaining its workforce. DHS also would cut spending on border technology by $225 million, to $574 million, because of delayed deployment on the U.S.-Mexico border.

See full budget request here.



Highlights

One of the major items in the administration’s proposed 2011 DHS budget is a request for nearly $1 billion to secure U.S. airports from terrorism-related threats on the heels of Christmas Day’s botched attack by a young jihadist from Nigeria. According to the 159-page document released yesterday, DHS requested a total of $8.2 billion for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) — the agency responsible for protecting the U.S. transportation system. The total 2011 request represents a discretionary increase of $508.7 million over the TSA’s enacted budget this fiscal year.

Matthew Harwood writes that nearly an eighth of the proposed amount will go to TSA’s effort to protect passengers on domestic and international flights into and out of the United States.

Domestically, $734 million will go to bolstering security at U.S. airports. Nearly a third of that proposed total is requested to buy 500 additional whole-body-imaging machines in 2011, which combined with DHS’s plan to deploy 500 would put a total of 1,000 machines in the U.S. highest-risk airports by next year.

“This appropriation will place this technology in 75 percent of the country’s largest airports,” said DHS’ Peggy Sherry, acting chief financial officer, during a background briefing on the budget proposal with reporters on Monday.

Since the failure to detect the explosive powders sewn inside 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s underwear before he boarded his Detroit-bound flight in Amsterdam, DHS has pushed aggressively for expanded deployment of whole-body scanners both domestically and internationally. Unlike pat-downs or traditional metal detectors, DHS believes whole-body scanners, which can