When Republicans won a majority in the House, some of their most conservative members pledged to use their power to slash the budgets of federal agencies that they said had been used as a weapon against them, first and foremost. including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
So when President Mike Johnson unveiled the package of six government spending bills that he negotiated with Democrats and that President Biden signed into law on Saturday, he touted the “deep cuts” – 6% – that Republicans had secured in the agency’s budget.
But the story of FBI budget cuts isn’t so much about how House Republicans used their slim majority to shave the budget of an agency they claim has gone rogue. Instead, this is a remarkable story about how a single powerful senator used budgetary sleight of hand to direct hundreds of millions of dollars to a single project in his state, only to see this money reduced by members of his own party after his retirement.
Of the $654 million that lawmakers agreed to cut this year from the FBI’s operating budget, $622 million came from eliminating what was essentially an old allocation: money for construction of the FBI campus. office at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. budget years ago by Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the legendary pork barrel veteran who retired in 2022 at the age of 88.
The actual reduction in the FBI’s operating budget — primarily for personnel and operations — was about $32 million, or 0.3 percent.
Ultraconservative Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who voted against the spending package this week, calling it full of budget gimmicks, have pointed to the elimination of Mr. Shelby’s pet project as a prime example of how little is being cut. that his party had actually been able to do. .
Complaining about the FBI budget cut in the House this week, Mr. Roy said: «What they won’t tell you is that 95 percent of it is eliminating a Richard Shelby allocation, because that Richard Shelby is no longer there to defend the FBI budget. his favorite project in Alabama.
For years, Mr. Shelby used his seat on the Appropriations Committee to single-handedly transform the landscape of his home state, leveraging billions of federal dollars to create and expand university buildings and education programs. research, airports and seaports, as well as military and military installations. space facilities.
One of his highest priority projects was the FBI’s twin campuses at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, where over the course of a decade he spent more than $3 billion to build the 1,100 acres of land that the bureau has been secured to install facilities dedicated to cyber threat intelligence. and training.
The FBI expects more than 4,000 jobs to be created in Huntsville over the next eight to 10 years. The agency said in a statement that planned construction activities in Huntsville could continue, but noted that spending reductions for the rest of the office — including in its annual construction budgets needed for operations and maintenance of the Quantico campus and for salaries – presented “significant challenges”.
“This basic operations deficit will degrade the FBI’s ability to counter terrorism threats to the country and combat violent crime, drugs, gangs and transnational organized crime,” the statement said.
Normally, these pet projects are funded through earmarks — a practice that allows lawmakers to direct federal funds toward specific projects in their states and districts. These projects are listed in a separate list, which clearly indicates the amount of federal money intended for a specific project and the lawmaker who requested it.
Mr. Shelby instead inserted money for the campus into the text of the spending bill, in an apparent effort to ensure that it would be available even after he left Congress. For several years in a row, the Biden administration has requested approximately $61 million for the FBI construction budget. Instead, at the senator’s request, Congress gave them $632 million one year and $652 million the next. Mr. Shelby did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In each case, the laws stipulated that the additional funding must be used to address the FBI’s «highest priorities outside the immediate nation’s capital area,» that is, Washington, DC.
Although it didn’t say so in the legislation, it was clear that it only meant one location: Huntsville, Alabama.
“Increasing the FBI’s presence in Huntsville has been a priority of mine for some time,” Mr. Shelby said in a 2022 announcement touting the additional funding. “And I’m proud to have helped make it happen.” »