Dept. of Homeland Security needs to get funded to 'ensure' a safe World Cup, official says
As the United States braces for the largest travel summer in history, there is one event that might draw the biggest crowd: the 2026 World Cup.
Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House Task Force on the FIFA 2026 World Cup, told ABC News that every day the Department of Homeland Security remains unfunded in the partial government shutdown, the event becomes more "vulnerable."
"We're here to make the case as loud as we can that, in order for us to do the best work possible, to ensure that this is going to be a safe and successful World Cup, we need to open the department and need to open it yesterday," Guiliani said from DHS headquarters in Southeast Washington, D.C.
DHS plays a large role in securing the World Cup, from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency staying vigilant for cyberattacks, to TSA agents screening bags at airports and Customs and Border Protection officers helping secure entry points.
The World Cup begins in early June, with games being held across the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Giuliani said DHS getting funded is critical to running in the same direction and breaking down the silos that exist between agencies -- something the White House Task Force has prided itself on, according to Giuliani.
The last World Cup faced "billions" of cyberattacks, Giuliani said, from FIFA, the sponsors and the Qatari government, and Giuliani said they are expecting "double" that this year.
The Department of Homeland Security also doesn't have enough time to train all of the new TSA employees due to the shutdown, he said.
In the event that DHS isn't funded in two weeks, he said they are planning for "other agencies or entities." But Giuliani said, even if DHS gets funded in two weeks, they will likely still have "operational holes" that they might not be able to solve until May, he said.
Giuliani also said that tabletop exercises that should be ongoing now for the World Cup with stakeholders are not due to the shutdown.
"Each day that we go without the whole department being funded, it creates more vulnerabilities," he said. "If we don't have a resolution, let's say, in a month, you wonder how many, how many people may have decided to quit because they have the personal obligations to their family," he said.
