‘A shell of our former self’: How Trump and Musk’s spending cuts are hampering US government readiness amid the Iran war

The DOGE cuts and related personnel moves also affected domestic preparedness, intelligence sharing, and public diplomacy.

“President Donald Trump began his second term with a promise to cut “billions and billions of dollars” in government spending, empowering Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to eliminate programs and fire workers it deemed wasteful”

CNN

Current and former officials and industry executives said cuts at the Department of Homeland Security and CISA reduced cyber threat information-sharing with critical infrastructure firms.

CNN

Andy Jabbour, CEO of Gate 15, said 'there's no comparison' and noted the US lacks a DHS secretary or CISA director.

Errol Weiss of Health-ISAC said the pace of intelligence sharing has 'dangerously slowed.'

Trump administration cybersecurity officials told industry groups there were no major cyber threats from Iran at the moment, but an industry source on the call described it as 'a waste of time.'

Officials said an overhaul at FEMA removed many seasoned leaders and cut contracts, trainings, equipment and travel, leaving the agency stretched and forcing staff to spend time filling gaps rather than focusing fully on preparedness.

A senior FEMA official said preparedness attention dropped from roughly 100% to 'maybe able to put 50% of our attention on that.'

Just days before the US began military operations, FBI Director Kash Patel fired a dozen agents and staff from CI-12, the Washington-based counterintelligence unit that tracks foreign spies and threats from Iran.

Officials say the dismissals hamstrung the unit, while an FBI spokesperson said the bureau 'maintains a robust counterintelligence operation, with personnel all over the country.'

Voice of America employees told CNN that acting-CEO Kari Lake attempted mass firings and that a judge ruled she unlawfully ran the agency and voided the mass layoffs, which Lake says she will appeal.

Employees said cuts to VOA’s staff and broadcast infrastructure—including canceled satellite contracts—contributed to a broadcast outage in Iran the day before US military operations began and harmed VOA’s ability to reach Iranian audiences and its audience trust.

Former State Department official Michael Duffin told CNN that shifting an office that tracked human rights, democracy and labor away from those issues 'has made us limited in our view into what's happening in the Middle East and Iran.'