Washington ( CNN ) -- The Department of Homeland Security has more contractors working for it than full-time employees , a situation two members of Congress said Tuesday was `` unacceptable , untenable and unsustainable . '' Sen. Joseph Lieberman , the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee , and ranking Republican Susan Collins said they were `` astounded '' to learn there are more than 200,000 contractor employees at the department . The civilian work force of Homeland Security numbers 188,000 , according to an estimate provided to the senators by Homeland Security . In a letter sent Tuesday to the agency 's Secretary Janet Napolitano , Lieberman and Collins said the figure `` raises the question of whether DHS itself is in charge of its programs and policies , or whether it inappropriately has ceded core decisions to contractors . '' Although Lieberman , an independent from Connecticut , and Collins of Maine noted that contractors can offer a variety of needed assets and skills to federal agencies , they called the current balance between federal employees and contractors at Homeland Security `` unacceptable , untenable and unsustainable , '' according to the letter . Napolitano is slated to appear before the Senate committee Wednesday and is expected to face questions on the subject . The senators want a unit-by-unit breakdown of where in Homeland Security the contractors are working and have asked for assurances that contractors are not performing `` inherently governmental work . '' Clark Stevens , a spokesman for Homeland Security , told CNN Tuesday that `` Secretary Napolitano has been strongly committed to decreasing the department 's reliance on contractors and strengthening the federal work force '' at Homeland Security . `` Over the past year , we have been actively converting contractor positions to government positions and will continue to build on these efforts at an even more aggressive pace this year . We are working across the department to identify and make additional conversions as quickly as possible while sustaining the work force required to carry out our critical mission , '' Stevens said .
Sens . Joe Lieberman , Susan Collins call situation ` ` unacceptable , untenable '' Department of Homeland Security has more than 5000 contract employees . Full - time civilian employees at DHS number 300 . Lawmakers fear DHS ` ` inappropriately has ceded core decisions to civilians ''