Moe Chizari

DHS

2016 to 2017

Last changed

Two offices into one: the CWMD Office.

From 2016 to 2017 I worked on DHS budget review, in the Chief Financial Officer's Program Analysis and Evaluation office. The budget figures and the dates of DHS and congressional actions come from the public documents listed at the end.

What I did

I built the benefit-cost analysis supporting the consolidation of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) and most of the Office of Health Affairs (OHA), together $457.0M in FY2018 enacted funding [3], into the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office. DHS carried it out under section 872 of the Homeland Security Act in December 2017 [3], and Congress established the office in law in 2018 [7].

I challenged a renewed proposal to upgrade the BioWatch biodetection system during DHS budget review, citing its narrow coverage (six agents) and its 12-to-36-hour detection time [9]. DHS cancelled the upgrade effort in September 2018 on cost and false-alarm grounds [9].

What the budget shows

The combined office's first enacted budget, $434.9M for FY2019, was $22.1M (4.8%) below the two offices' FY2018 total [3] [5].

Enacted budget in millions of dollars, not adjusted for inflation: the two offices together through FY2018, the combined office in FY2019. The table below gives the source of each bar.

Part of that gap is work that moved rather than stopped. OHA's workforce health program ($9.2M) went to DHS Management, and a net $2.1M of work came in from other DHS offices [4]. Counting only the same functions in both years, FY2019 was $15.0M (3.3%) below FY2018.

Later years do not compare like for like: more functions moved out of the office in FY2021 and FY2023.

YearBasisBudgetSource
FY2016Revised enacted, DNDO + OHA$472.4M[1] [2]
FY2017Enacted, DNDO + OHA$476.0M[3]
FY2018Enacted, DNDO + OHA$457.0M[3]
FY2019Enacted, CWMD Office$434.9M[5]
FY2018Enacted, on FY2019's functions$449.9M[3] [4]

Explore the budget

Pick a fiscal year from FY2019 to FY2025 and compare the office's enacted budget with FY2018, as enacted and counted on the same functions. Every figure comes from the documents listed under Sources.

The workforce in OPM's public data

OPM's Federal Workforce Data counts employees under DHS code HSDA, which its files label Domestic Nuclear Detection Office in every year, including the years after the CWMD Office was formed. The August 2026 file counts one employee under the code. OPM's separations files record 27 departures from it between October 2025 and August 2026, fewer than the drop; the files do not say what happened to the rest. The shaded band marks my years, 2016 to 2017. These are public counts for the whole office, not figures from my work. [11]

My years 0 100 200 300 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025 122 1 My years 0 100 200 300 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025 122 1
Employees under code HSDA in OPM's September snapshots, 2014 to 2025, and in August 2026, the newest file: 122 in September 2014, 249 at the high in September 2022, 1 in August 2026. [11]
My years 0 20 40 60 FY15 FY17 FY19 FY21 FY23 FY25 My years 0 20 40 60 FY15 FY17 FY19 FY21 FY23 FY25
Hires (accessions, transfers in included) and departures (separations of every kind) by fiscal year, counted by the date each action took effect. In fiscal year 2025, 11 joined and 42 left, 10 of them under the Deferred Resignation Program. [12]
The numbers
SnapshotEmployees
September 2014122
September 2015126
September 2016119
September 2017136
September 2018136
September 2019198
September 2020234
September 2021246
September 2022249
September 2023229
September 2024223
September 2025200
August 20261
Fiscal yearHiresDepartures
FY201599
FY20161215
FY2017279
FY20181316
FY20193630
FY20205514
FY20213324
FY20222115
FY20231619
FY20241614
FY20251142

Timeline

  1. April 2014DHS cancels the BioWatch Gen-3 acquisition: its analysis did not confirm a benefit large enough to justify the cost. [8] [9]
  2. 2016 to 2017I build the benefit-cost analysis for the consolidation, and challenge the renewed BioWatch upgrade proposal in budget review.
  3. 6 October 2017DHS tells the appropriations committees it will use section 872 of the Homeland Security Act to create a CWMD Office. [3]
  4. 5 December 2017The CWMD Office takes effect. DNDO and OHA keep their separate accounts through FY2018. [3]
  5. September 2018DHS cancels the BioWatch upgrade effort, citing its cost and the high false-alarm rate of the trigger technology. [9]
  6. 21 December 2018Congress writes the CWMD Office into law and asks for a yearly report on any resulting cost savings and efficiencies. [7]
  7. FY2019The combined office's first enacted budget: $434.9M. [5]
  8. 31 July 2020DHS sends Congress its report for FY2019 under that law. The report is not public. [10]
  9. FY2023The Chief Medical Officer's funding and 44 positions move out of the office, to a new health security office ($21.3M). [6]

Sources

  1. DHS FY2018 budget justification, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office
  2. DHS FY2018 budget justification, Office of Health Affairs
  3. FY2018 omnibus, Division F (Homeland Security) explanatory statement
  4. DHS FY2019 budget justification, CWMD, OHA and DNDO (transfer tables)
  5. DHS FY2021 budget justification, CWMD Office (FY2019 enacted)
  6. DHS FY2023 budget justification, CWMD Office
  7. Public Law 115-387, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 2018
  8. GAO-14-267T, BioWatch
  9. GAO-21-292, BioWatch
  10. GAO-22-104498, CWMD Office
  11. OPM, Federal Workforce Data: employment snapshots, September 2014 to September 2025 and August 2026 (read 22 October 2026)
  12. OPM, Federal Workforce Data: accessions and separations files, October 2014 to August 2026 (read 22 October 2026)

Agency names are where the work was done. They are not endorsements.

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