T
his primer describes the background, schedule,
stakeholders, phases, and oversight of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plan-
ning, programming, budgeting, and execution
(PPBE) process. It is intended to be a useful reference
guide for those unfamiliar with the DHS PPBE process,
particularly among congressional staff.
Background
Established in 2002, DHS protects the U.S. homeland
through a broad array of missions, including border, trans-
portation, and maritime security; cyber and infrastructure
security; management of the immigration system and
immigration enforcement; disaster response; protection
of the nation’s leaders; and countering weapons of mass
destruction (see DHS, undated-a). DHS is the third-largest
federal cabinet-level agency, with more than 250,000
employees and a budget of nearly $100 billion in the fiscal
year (FY) 2023 President’s Budget request (DHS, 2022, p. 1).
The annual DHS budget includes discretionary funding
for disasters (the Disaster Relief Fund), which has histori-
cally accounted for between 20 and 60 percent of the total
budget; discretionary fees collected by DHS components;
KEY TAKEAWAYS
■ The planning, programming, budget-
ing, and execution process of the
U.S. Department of Homeland Secu-
rity (DHS) takes almost two years,
beginning from the planning phase
to the delivery of the annual budget
request to Congress.
■ While the DHS Office of the Chief
Financial Officer coordinates the
programming and budgeting phases,
the execution of the budget is coordi-
nated by DHS’s component agencies.
■ Although DHS has some flexibilities
to reprogram and carry over fund-
ing, the department frequently needs
supplemental appropriations to deal
with emergent issues.
■ Despite the extensive effort to pre-
pare the DHS budget request, neither
the House nor Senate has passed
an individual DHS appropriations bill
from fiscal year (FY) 2016 onward,
except for the House-passed FY
2024 DHS appropriations bill.
RESEARCH
BRIEF
U.S. Department of
Homeland Security
Planning, Programing,
Budgeting, and Execution
Process
A Primer
