The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency spent $163.2 million on its industrial security mission in fiscal year 2025, a sharp jump from $102.8 million in FY2023 and the highest figure in the five-year period the GAO examined. But the spending increase tells only part of the story — and the more revealing part lies in where the money and personnel did not go.

From FY2021 through FY2024, total industrial security personnel remained essentially flat, ranging between 394 and 412. The FY2025 count of 479 represents a 19 percent increase over FY2024, but 42 of the 76 new positions were added at headquarters — partly to support a statutory expansion of DCSA’s entity vetting mission, not to put more boots on the ground for security reviews. Regional field personnel grew from 319 in FY2021 to 329 in FY2025, an increase of roughly 3 percent over four years.