who controls funding for all departments within homeland security
United States Department of Homeland Security During a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on the reauthorization of DHS, Elaine Duke, deputy secretary of DHS, said there is a weariness and anxiety within DHS about the repeated congressional efforts to agree to a long-term spending plan, which has resulted in several threats to shutdown the federal government. "Shutdowns are disruptive," Duke said. She said the "repeated failure on a longtime spending plan resulting in short-term continuing resolutions (CRs) has caused "angst" among the department's 240,000 employees in the weeks leading up to the CRs."[33] The uncertainty about funding hampers DHS's ability to pursue major projects and it takes away attention and manpower from important priorities. Seventy percent of DHS employees are considered essential and are not furloughed during government shutdowns.[33]