Jewish community groups and congressional Democrats are raising concerns about the Department of Homeland Security’s plans to slash 75% of the staff for the department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A).

NextGov reported that the cuts — totaling 725 of the office’s 1,000 staff — had been in progress for months but were temporarily paused following the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which federal officials warned could prompt domestic attacks. 

I&A plays a role in collecting and disseminating to local law enforcement and private partners intelligence to counter threats including terrorism and foreign adversaries. But the office has also come under criticism from various fronts in recent years over alleged domestic surveillance abuses and failures to investigate threats, and faced questions over its scope, capabilities and mission, which have prompted calls for reform.

Top congressional Democrats wrote to the administration last week criticizing the expected cuts.

“Hollowing out the office risks leaving the homeland dangerously exposed to these threats, especially at a time when the FBI’s budget is being substantially reduced,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), the ranking member of Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Jim Himes (D-CT), the ranking members of the Homeland Security and Intelligence committees, said in a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

“Radically reducing I&A’s workforce at headquarters or in the field would create dangerous and unnecessary security gaps and could again leave us in the dark about the threats that lie ahead,” the lawmakers continued.

They emphasized that, despite issues at I&A in the past, it has made progress and fills critical gaps in the intelligence infrastructure.

A coalition of Jewish community groups — the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and the Secure Community Network — wrote to the top lawmakers on the Senate and House Intelligence Committees last week raising similar concerns.

“We are deeply concerned that any wholesale changes to the operations of I&A will have an adverse effect on countering antisemitism and ensuring the safety of the Jewish community in the United States,” the Jewish groups wrote. “With the historic rise in antisemitic incidents and threats both targeting and impacting the American Jewish community, I&A’s role has never been more important.”

The groups highlighted the office’s mission in sharing information with partners, including state and local law enforcement, and said that they “rely on I&A to provide accurate and timely updates on behalf of the intelligence community to inform efforts for our community’s safety and security.”

The groups urged the lawmakers to work to halt changes that would jeopardize Jewish community security.

Michael Masters, SCN’s CEO, wrote separately to Noem on Monday to offer recommendations for the future of I&A, emphasizing, “as the only Intelligence Community entity statutorily mandated to share threat information with state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) partners, and a key information sharing partner of a non-profit entity such as ours, it is critical that we at SCN, as well as our law enforcement partners, have an effective, credible, and efficient partner in DHS I&A.”

Masters said that, while the office is a critical resource, there have been issues with I&A’s output in the past, some of which have impacted the Jewish community: “When we have received information and support from I&A, we have faced issues with the timely and credible nature of the information itself,” Masters said.

He recommended that I&A’s mission be focused in part on collaboration and information-sharing with nonprofits such as SCN and on open-source intelligence collection and coordinating with other federal intelligence agencies.

A DHS spokesperson said in a statement to JI that DHS has identified some roles and programs inside I&A as unnecessary.

​​“Under President Trump’s leadership, we focused on getting the Department of Homeland Security back to its core mission of prioritizing American safety and enforcing our laws. DHS component leads have identified redundant positions and non-critical programs within the Office of Intelligence and Analysis,” the statement reads. “The Department is actively working to identify other wasteful positions and programs that do not align with DHS’s mission to prioritize American safety and enforce our laws.”

Groups representing state and local law enforcement officials, including the Major Cities Chiefs Association, County Sheriffs of America, the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, the National Fusion Center Association and the National Sheriffs’ Association, have also warned against gutting the office.

“[I&A] is the only component of the U.S. intelligence community with a statutory mandate to share threat information with state and local partners,” a letter from the Major Cities Chiefs Association, County Sheriffs of America and the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, reads. “The current threat landscape makes our partnership with [I&A] more critical than ever. Ongoing Middle East conflicts heighten risks of foreign-directed and homegrown violent extremism, as demonstrated by the recent antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado.”