5. Department of Homeland Security · Major · Needs Congress
Dismantle DHS's remaining supporting components
Printed page 134 5. Department of Homeland Security
“All of the remaining supporting components could be dismantled because their functions already exist in the moving components as well as the receiving departments. Cutting these costs would save the American taxpayers significant sums.”
What has happened
- Partially done
The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman stopped operating during the 2026 DHS funding lapse and has not reopened; DHS said "Congress did" it, though the DHS appropriation enacted 2026-04-30 (Public Law 119-86) did not direct the closure. One of the supporting components the Mandate names is now dark: the executive has not routed around the ask here, it has stopped the office doing anything, which is one piece of the dismantling delivered. The office's statute stands, no component has been abolished by Congress, and the rest are still running, so this is `partial`, not `done`.
- Attempted
After a suit by civil-rights groups, DHS posted notices that each office "continues to exist and will perform its statutorily required functions" (a judge on 2025-05-23 had told DHS counsel to say so publicly) while still implementing the RIFs.
- Attempted
DHS confirmed a reduction in force across three headquarters oversight offices — 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 (about 300 staff) — calling them "internal adversaries". These are supporting components, but the RIF is executive downsizing; the offices are statutory and DHS itself was not dismantled.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
- The Mandate’s sentence sits inside its plan to break DHS up; with the department intact, the only actions that fit are these headquarters-office cuts. No bill to abolish DHS components was found among bills in Congress (bill titles matching “Homeland”/“CISA”/“ICE”/“CBP” with abolish/reorganize/dismantle/consolidate/transfer: only H.R. 7844 on fund transfers during a lapse).
- Litigation lead: Kennedy Human Rights Center v. DHS, D.D.C. 1:25-cv-01270 (filed 2025-04-24), https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69938653/kennedy-human-rights-center-v-us-department-of-homeland-security/ — docket not readable without auth; no injunction found on allowlisted sources, so no blocked event.
- Other coverage surfaced but not read (could not be read, or not needed): The Hill 2025-03-21 and 2025-11 (OIDO closure), Washington Post 2025-03-21, Federal News Network 2025-05, Axios 2025-03-21.
- Action
- abolish
- Object
- DHS supporting components
- ID
- 278