Earlier this week, members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees advocate Six spending bills that will fund the government through the end of the year.in press releaseRepublicans on a House committee boasted that the bill would „save taxpayers more than $200 billion over the next 10 years,“ during which time the Congressional Budget Office Predict The national debt will expand by $20 trillion, exceeding gross domestic product.
Some of these savings are due to reductions in federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Unfortunately, even their cuts are much more modest than they appear.
House Republicans boasted in a press release that the spending package „harnesses the power of the wallet to address the growing weaponization of bureaucracy within the FBI and ATF.“ Specifically, they do this by „reversing[ATF's]anti-Second Amendment overreach and significantly reducing overall funding by $122 million (7%) starting in 2023.“ It will do this and also hold the FBI accountable for targeting ordinary Americans by cutting its budget. The overall operating budget was reduced by $654 million, and construction costs were reduced by 95%. ”
But these already meager cuts contain very little actual cuts.
FBI salaries and expenses totaled It requested more than $10 billion in 2023 and $11 billion in 2024.of spending bill Grants will amount to $10.6 billion. That's slightly less than the FBI had hoped for, but it's only about 0.5 percent less than last year's budget, and certainly short of the 6 percent cut Republicans were boasting about.
Republicans get around this with some tricky math: In their 2022 omnibus spending bill, Republicans say: received $652 million In preparation for the construction of a campus in Huntsville, Alabama. Republicans included $652 million in touting the 6% cut, even though the amount allocated to salaries and expenses remained largely unchanged.
In fact, when Republicans boasted that they had „cut the FBI's construction account by $621.9 million“ (a whopping 95 percent decrease), that precipitous decline started with the Huntsville lump sum.And only the FBI I asked for The construction budget was $61.9 million, which alone represents a 90% reduction.
On the other hand, ATF received The spending bill allocates $1.625 billion for salaries and expenses in 2023, compared to $1.672 billion, which is only a 2.8% decrease, not the 7% decrease claimed by House Republicans. The 7% reduction of the $122 million includes a $47 million reduction in salaries and an additional $75 million reduction in construction costs. ATF did not request The 2024 budget does not include construction funding, so it is laughable to boast that it has been cut. As with the FBI, determining salaries and expenses on an apples-to-apples basis yields much more modest savings.
Of course, any kind of fiscal discipline should be welcomed. But Republicans aren't committed to cutting federal law enforcement across the board.
“The Drug Enforcement Administration was an outlier in this bill because it would receive a small funding increase.” write Eric Katz Government executives. The bill would provide $2.57 billion in funding to the DEA. Republicans say the department will receive „$42.4 million more“ than in 2023 after accounting for revenue from the diversion control program.
The bill also directs the FBI, as well as the DEA, to prioritize fentanyl enforcement. The FBI has been directed to „allocate maximum resources“ to target „trafficking“ of fentanyl and other opioids.There is no evidence that it was recognized Ban This is exactly why fentanyl has skyrocketed in the first place. Hazard mitigation measures Much safer and more effective than law enforcement solutions.
In fact, Republicans openly stated in a press release that the cuts were not intended to save taxpayers money, and that the bill „right-sizes government agencies and programs and „It's directing funds to fight fentanyl and counter the People's Republic of China.“ ”
Clearly, when the federal government consistently spends far more than it takes in, there is room for cuts, and cuts are essential. So it's a shame that Republican lawmakers are touting a plan to reduce $200 billion over 10 years (1% of the federal debt expected to accrue over that time), and then add numbers to make it happen. It is even more alarming to know that you are cheating. many.