On June 6, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the fiscal year 2014 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spending bill that provides $38.9 billion in discretionary funding for DHS.  This is a decrease of $617.6 million below the FY 2013 enacted level and a decrease of $34.9 million below the President’s request.  This funding level is approximately $981 million above the current post-sequestration level for DHS.  

Despite the decrease in overall funding for the Department, the bill does provide an increase of $247 million for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) above the fiscal 2013 enacted level, including funding to pay for the phased-in hiring of 1,600 new CBP Officers.

No action has yet been scheduled on DHS appropriations for FY 2014 in the Senate and many procedural and budgetary hurdles will need to be overcome before any appropriations bill for FY 2014 becomes law prior to October 1, 2013.