Directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to transmit to the House of Representatives certain documents relating to Department of Homeland Security policies and activities related to the security of Department information and data and the recruitment and retention of its workforce.
H. Res. 113 is a House resolution directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to transmit to the House certain documents within 14 days. The requested documents pertain to the Department’s policies and activities on protecting Department information and data, as well as recruitment and retention of DHS personnel. The resolution explicitly targets records related to interactions with the Department of Government Efficiency (as established by Executive Order 14158) and how DHS handles access to its information systems and data, including access by non-employees, plus topics tied to the ongoing federal hiring freeze and related workforce actions under the January 2025 presidential memorandum and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) actions. The resolution is a tool for congressional oversight and does not itself create new law; it obligates DHS to hand over specific records to Congress. The bill’s passage would increase congressional visibility into DHS information security practices and workforce management, potentially revealing sensitive security information and internal decision processes. Because the requested materials touch on access controls, data handling, and personnel actions (including a hiring freeze and deferred resignations), disclosure could affect DHS operations, privacy, and security considerations, and may raise questions about how much detail Congress can request or receive.
Key Points
- 1Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to transmit to the House copies of documentation related to DHS policies and activities on the security of DHS information and the recruitment/retention of its workforce.
- 2Required deadline: not later than 14 days after the date of adoption of the resolution.
- 3Scope of documents (12 listed categories), including:
- 4- (1) Documentation related to requests by the Department of Government Efficiency for access to DHS information systems or data.
- 5- (2) Documentation of any access to DHS information systems granted to Government Efficiency by DHS.
- 6- (3) Documentation of data DHS supplied to Government Efficiency.
- 7- (4) How DHS evaluates Government Efficiency requests for access to DHS information systems or data.
- 8- (5) DHS policies about granting access to DHS information systems to individuals who are not DHS employees or contractors.
- 9- (6) DHS policies about granting access to DHS data to individuals who are not DHS employees or contractors.
- 10- (7) DHS efforts to investigate whether, why, and to what extent employee data has been accessed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for non-routine purposes, including security implications.
- 11- (8) Documentation related to implementing a Memorandum signed by President Trump on Jan 20, 2025, ordering a “freeze on the hiring of Federal civilian employees.”
- 12- (9) Documentation on the number of DHS job offers pending as of Jan 20, 2025 and which offers were accepted.
- 13- (10) Documentation on the number of DHS offers accepted as of Jan 20, 2025 that have not been onboarded by adoption, and descriptions of remaining vacant positions.
- 14- (11) Documentation on the number of employees who accepted OPM’s deferred resignation offer as of the adoption date and their job titles.
- 15- (12) Documentation on the designation of national security employees for purposes of the Jan 20, 2025 hiring freeze and the Jan 28, 2025 OPM deferred resignation offer.
- 16The resolution was introduced February 5, 2025, referred to the Homeland Security Committee, reported adversely March 5, 2025, and ordered printed; it remains a House resolution rather than a law.