DHS to Launch Information Integrity Office by June 1, Awards $10 Million in Contracts

Program Set for June 1 Launch

The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to launch a new Information Integrity Office by June 1, according to three officials familiar with the planning. The office, which will operate under a new name after the department shuttered its earlier Disinformation Governance Board in 2022, will coordinate with social media platforms, academic researchers, and private contractors to identify what DHS describes as foreign information threats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, the officials said.

An internal DHS planning memo dated May 18 outlines a phased rollout beginning June 1, with full operational capability expected by August 15, two officials said. The memo, which was circulated to senior DHS leadership on May 19, identifies the new office as the Countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference program, or CFIMI. A senior DHS official involved in the planning said the office will be headquartered at the Nebraska Avenue Complex in Washington and will initially employ between 35 and 45 staff members drawn from existing DHS components.

The officials said the program has already awarded three contracts totaling $10.1 million to outside firms for monitoring services, technical support, and analytic work. The contracts, which were awarded through a limited competition process, include a $4.2 million award to a Washington-based research firm, a $3.8 million award to a California technology contractor, and a $2.1 million award to a British analytics company with existing U.S. government work, according to a contracting document reviewed by The Alamo Post.

White House Briefing and Platform Coordination

The launch follows a May 14 briefing at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where representatives from Meta, Alphabet, and X met with officials from DHS, the FBI, and the White House counsel's office, according to two tech company employees who attended the meeting. The meeting, which lasted approximately 90 minutes, focused on establishing a formalized channel for sharing threat information during the 2026 election cycle, the employees said.

A congressional investigator who has reviewed preliminary briefing materials said the new office will revive some functions of the earlier Disinformation Governance Board while avoiding the same public structure. The investigator said the CFIMI program will rely on private contractors to flag content for review, rather than directing platforms to remove material directly. That structure is designed to create distance between government officials and content moderation decisions, the investigator said.

The May 18 memo states that CFIMI will produce weekly reports for distribution to participating platforms and federal agencies, according to one official who has read the document. The reports will include what the memo calls "narrative trend analysis" and "foreign actor attribution assessments," the official said. A former content moderator at one of the participating platforms said the structure resembles earlier coordination efforts that became the subject of litigation in 2023 and 2024.

A lawyer involved in one of the pending lawsuits against the federal government over social media coordination said the new office is likely to face immediate legal scrutiny. The lawyer said plaintiffs in several cases are already preparing motions based on the same legal theories that led to earlier court rulings limiting federal contacts with platforms. The lawyer declined to be identified because the litigation is active.

Republicans Prepare Oversight Response

Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are preparing oversight letters and potential subpoena requests in response to the planned launch, according to two congressional aides briefed on the matter. One aide said the House Judiciary Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee are coordinating a joint request for documents related to the May 14 meeting and the May 18 memo. The aide said a letter is expected to be sent to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by May 22.

The officials and congressional aides said the administration is attempting to announce the office before the Memorial Day recess to avoid a concentrated political response. The launch is expected to be announced through a DHS fact sheet and a blog post rather than a press conference, one official said. The official said the department does not plan to hold a public event or briefing for reporters on June 1.

The contracts are scheduled to be posted on the federal spending database by June 5, after the office has begun operations, according to the contracting document. That timing would place public disclosure of the contractor names roughly five days after the launch. Two officials said the department is aware that the contracts will draw scrutiny and has directed the firms to avoid public statements until after the database posting.

What to Watch in the Next 72 Hours

The next 48 to 72 hours will determine whether the launch proceeds on the current timeline. Watch for the House oversight letters expected by May 22, any public comment from participating technology companies, and whether DHS publishes the CFIMI fact sheet as planned. A federal judge in Louisiana is also expected to rule by May 23 on a related discovery motion that could force disclosure of earlier government-platform communications, the lawyer involved in the litigation said.

The 2026 midterm elections remain the central timeline driving the program. The memo calls for CFIMI to reach full staffing by August 15 and to operate through Election Day on November 3. If the launch proceeds as scheduled, the office will represent the most significant federal effort to coordinate platform content review since the 2024 election cycle.