DHS Got $191 Billion — and Quietly Stopped Filing Privacy Assessments as Surveillance Exploded

$191 Billion for Surveillance, Zero Privacy Reviews

While DHS embarked on the largest domestic surveillance buildout in its history, the internal guardrail meant to check it — the privacy impact assessment — quietly vanished. The two facts are documented in the agency's own records.

The Money

The 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' signed July 4, 2025, allocated more than $191 billion to DHS — nearly double its fiscal 2024 appropriations. FedScoop's review of internal documents found that money flowing into a sweeping surveillance apparatus set to surge through the year ahead.

What It Buys

The spending lines are specific: a $1 billion ceiling on a Palantir blanket purchase agreement effective February 2026; $10–20 million for an AI-enhanced surveillance data platform; up to $50 million for mobile surveillance; $100+ million for a modular mobile surveillance system; and $25 million for iris-recognition technology. Vendors named include Penlink, Cellebrite, and Paragon Solutions.

The Oversight Collapse

As spending soared, accountability cratered. Privacy impact assessments — the documents that flag risks before a surveillance system goes live — fell from 24 filings in 2024 to just 8 in 2025, with none filed in 2026. DHS privacy officers were ousted after objecting to the mislabeling of records.

Why It Matters

The privacy assessment is supposed to be the moment the government asks, in writing, how a tool could harm ordinary people before deploying it. The documents show DHS scaling up the tools while switching off the questions.