Lawmakers to Bondi: DOJ funding cuts threaten national security

Politico

3 hours ago

Attorney General Pam Bondi came under bipartisan pressure Monday from lawmakers who argued that proposed funding cuts to the Justice Department, including the FBI, are unwise as the conflict between the U.S. and Iran intensifies.
During Bondi's first congressional testimony since her confirmation hearings, House members said the threat of attacks in the U.S. had risen significantly in the wake of President Donald Trump's decision to bomb Iran's nuclear sites and Iran's apparent retaliation with a missile attack Monday on a U.S. base in Qatar.
'When the DOJ submitted their budget, the United States was a nation at peace, and now we're a nation at war,' Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas) said. 'I want us to, as much as we can, get ahead of it to give you the resources, the instruments that you need to go out and make sure that we're preventing things from happening, not waiting until after the fact.'
Bondi was testifying before a House Appropriations subcommittee on DOJ's budget request proposing $33.6 billion for fiscal year 2026 — a $2.5 billion or roughly 7% decrease compared to the current year. About one-third of the total request would support programs directed at reducing violent crime. The difference in funding year over year would also represent a reduction of about 5,000 positions.
However, Gonzalez noted that Trump's budget reduces DOJ funding for national security, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, threat screening and efforts to counter weapons of mass destruction.
'Those are the programs that we need more resources [for], more manpower,' he said.
Bondi, who used part of her opening statement to urge Americans to 'pray for our troops in Qatar,' was noncommittal about any budget changes related to the intensifying conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
Of course, you can always do more with more, but we're doing more with less,' the attorney general said. 'It's a frightening time in which we live right now but President Trump is committed to keeping all Americans safe.'
Bondi also said the FBI is on guard against potential Iranian sleeper cells in the U.S., including Iranian citizens who entered the U.S. via the border with Mexico during the Biden administration.
'We are on high alert, and everyone is looking at that very closely,' she said, without elaborating.
Democratic Reps. Glenn Ivey of Maryland and Frank Mrvan of Indiana similarly urged Bondi to take another look at her department's budget request in light of escalating tensions with Iran.
'Taking FBI agents off the street now … there isn't a worse possible time you could do it,' Ivey said.
Mrvan said the U.S. needs to be bracing for potential Iranian attacks on banking systems and the electric grid. 'That is a new threat,' he said.