Nessel urges appropriate funding for AG's office and county prosecutors amid Michigan budget talks
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel gives a presentation on her office's work to the Michigan House Judiciary Committee on April 16, 2025 | Screenshot
For every dollar the State of Michigan puts in the budget for the Department of Attorney General, it earns $4 back for the state, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday.
As Michigan House Republicans propose a budget that allocates no funding to the Office of Attorney General, as well as several government agencies in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget, Nessel said the result of such a decision would be disastrous.
'Let me tell you why that's a bad idea. Our state would go bankrupt literally within weeks if that were that to happen,' Nessel said. 'We defend all lawsuits against the state…and we're the only department in the state that contributes revenue to the state that is not a tax or a fee.'
Operating on approximately one third of a percent of the state budget's General Fund, about $120 million, Nessel said in 2024 the department won more than $500 million in court for Michiganders.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Nessel went on to say her office has obtained 11 settlements over her six-and-a-half-year tenure in its efforts to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable for the opioid epidemic, which has resulted in thousands of overdoses in Michigan since 2000. These settlements have awarded $1.64 billion to the state to be distributed through local government and statewide government programs.
While there's a lot of negative commentary regarding government employees, Nessel said, alluding to President Donald Trump's executive actions to trim down the federal workforce and eliminate 'bloat', Nessel said her staff work tirelessly to improve the lives of Michiganders.
From educating elderly Michiganders on scams to investigating long-overlooked cases of missing and murdered indigenous residents, Nessel touted the work her office has done, including facilitating 315 individuals to enroll in the state's Address Confidentiality Program to shield the addresses of those who have experienced domestic and sexual violence and stalking.
But it's not just the Attorney General's Office that is charged with helping Michiganders find justice, Nessel said, noting that county prosecutors play an instrumental role in the state's justice system as the state faces a shortage of prosecutors amid staffing shortages and underfunding.
And now county prosecutor's offices across Michigan face the task of reviewing hundreds of murder cases in a 180 day window after the Michigan Supreme Court eliminated mandatory life sentences without parole for 19- and 20-year-olds last week. The time schedule prescribed by the state court is 'insanely short' Nessel said and will take an immense amount of effort from prosecutors to handle resentencings.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Ann Bollin (R-Brighton Twp.) has proposed cutbacks in the state budget for the Michigan Supreme Court and the State Court Administrative Office to invest into county prosecutors' offices to address the workload.
'If the Michigan Supreme Court wants to upend the justice system and force communities to relive horrific crimes, they're going to have to tighten their budget,' Bollin said in a news release Monday. 'I'm going to make sure the people doing the real work — our local prosecutors — have the resources they need to keep dangerous criminals behind bars and fight for justice on behalf of victims and their families.'
It's hard to explain the breadth of what the Supreme Court's decision will mean for Michiganders, Nessel said. Beyond the 'excruciating' experience for families of deceased victims during resentencing, cases will have to be revisited from decades ago and the effort it takes to rebuild a file will consume prosecutors' offices.
'I hope when you're formulating your budget, you just keep that in mind as to just how much work goes into that and how important it is for these types of cases, the most important kinds of cases where a person lost their life, so my hope is that you will consider that,' Nessel said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
E&E News
31 minutes ago
- E&E News
New megabill text revives land sales, axes IRA funding
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's portion of Republicans' party-line bill proposes to sell off certain public lands and repeal billions of dollars for energy programs in Democrats' 2022 climate law. The committee's proposal, unveiled Wednesday evening, contains many of the provisions in the House-passed H.R. 1, the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill Act' — including ones that would target the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office or charge a one-time fee to speed up permitting for some natural gas projects. But there are some significant differences. Most notable is a new section favored by Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) to revive the sale of public lands, reigniting a firestorm of opposition from advocates. The provision goes further than an abandoned proposal in the House, encompassing Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands across 11 Western states. Advertisement ENR's text comes as the Senate is racing to tweak and quickly vote on tax, energy and national security legislation after the House approved its version last month. Republicans are working through the reconciliation process, which will allow them to skirt the Senate filibuster and pass the budget-focused bill with simple majorities.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Senate Democrats demand probe of Ed Martin's pledge to 'shame' Trump's opponents, other actions at DOJ
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are pushing for an investigation into top Justice Department official Ed Martin over his stated plans to "shame" political opponents of President Donald Trump who he's unable to charge criminally, as well as a host of other politically charged matters Martin has publicly pledged to pursue in his new position. "I write to express my grave concern about Ed Martin's stated intention to abuse his new roles as lead of the so-called 'Weaponization Working Group' you constituted at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and as DOJ's Pardon Attorney," Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, said in a letter transmitted to the Justice Department, which was first obtained by ABC News. "Following his disgraceful tenure as Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Mr. Martin apparently plans to continue his misconduct in his new roles at DOJ." The DOJ did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment on the letter. MORE: Ed Martin, Trump's DOJ pardon attorney, says he'll review Biden's outgoing pardons Martin's controversial tenure as the interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., in the opening months of Trump's presidency thrust the office into turmoil and led several Senate Republicans to state publicly they wouldn't support his permanent confirmation in the role. But once the White House announced they were pulling Martin's nomination, Trump said Martin would instead be appointed to several top positions working out of DOJ's main headquarters -- serving as an associate deputy attorney general, the U.S. pardon attorney and director of the so-called "Weaponization Working Group." Martin celebrated the news on his X account, posting 'Eagle Unleashed,' and in various interviews celebrated what he described as a mandate from Trump directly to target the alleged 'weaponization' of the department under the Biden administration. 'It's classic Donald Trump, right? That somebody tries to block him and block his pick, and he decides to double down,' Martin told Breitbart News last month. 'This is probably the greatest job I could ever envision.' MORE: Trump US attorney nominee distances himself from antisemitic Jan. 6 rioter he once praised In a news conference announcing his departure from the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office, Martin confirmed he planned to launch a probe of last-minute pardons issued by former President Joe Biden just before he left office -- and suggested that officials he's unable to charge would instead be publicly "shamed." "There are some really bad actors, some people that did some really bad things to the American people," Martin said. "And if they can be charged, we'll charge them. But if they can't be charged, we will name them ... And in a culture that respects shame, they should be people that are shamed. And that's a fact. That's the way things work. And so that's how I believe the job operates." The approach would directly conflict with longstanding DOJ policy that prohibits prosecutors from naming or disparaging individuals who they don't intend to charge criminally. When asked about that policy by ABC News during the news conference, Martin said he would "have to look at what the provision you're referring to, to see -- we want to square ourselves with doing the things correctly." The letter from Senate Democrats said Martin's statements "are a brazen admission that Mr. Martin plans to systematically violate the Justice Manual's prohibition on extrajudicial statements by shaming uncharged parties for nakedly partisan reasons. Weaponizing DOJ in this manner will further undermine the public's trust in the department in irreparable ways." MORE: Bondi, as new AG, launches 'Weaponization Working Group' to review officials who investigated Trump In his early days as pardon attorney, Martin said he advised the president in his pardon of former Virginia county sheriff Scott Jenkins, who had been sentenced to ten years in prison for a federal bribery conviction. "No MAGA left behind," Martin posted on X in response to the pardon. Durbin's letter further cited reports Martin has "personally advocated" fast-tracking pardons for members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who were convicted of seditious conspiracy stemming from their roles leading up to the attack on the Capitol, after President Trump initially opted to commute their sentences in his sweeping clemency action for the nearly 1600 individuals charged in connection with Jan. 6. Durbin's letter requests Bondi provide a host of records related to Martin's appointment and early days as head of the Weaponization Working Group and Pardon Attorney's Office. It's unclear whether DOJ will ultimately respond to Durbin's demands given Democrats' minority position on the committee. Senate Democrats demand probe of Ed Martin's pledge to 'shame' Trump's opponents, other actions at DOJ originally appeared on
E&E News
32 minutes ago
- E&E News
Hill Republicans applaud climate rule rollback
Republican lawmakers welcomed the Trump administration's Wednesday proposal to roll back limits on power plant emissions. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin unveiled a plan to wipe out power plant pollution limits and carbon storage requirements that were instituted under former President Joe Biden. The proposal would leave the power sector without a federal mandate to address fossil fuel emissions. Republicans on Capitol Hill were quick to welcome EPA's actions. They downplayed potential climate impacts, instead pointing to the need to bolster fuel production to power artificial intelligence and lower energy prices. Advertisement 'These regulations promulgated during the Biden-Harris administration threaten American businesses and workers without making a meaningful difference toward addressing pollution,' said Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), chair of the House's Energy and Commerce Committee, at EPA's Wednesday rollout event.
