At a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) questioned FBI Director Kash Patel about potential budget cuts.
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00:00Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
00:02Director Patel, you have previously stated that your number one priority for the FBI is to end violent crime in the United States.
00:10The budget request slashes the FBI budget by more than half a billion dollars, below the current level.
00:17It quite literally would defund law enforcement, including it would appear cutting a number of FBI intelligence analysts who work on critical national security issues.
00:26How is it possible to cut more than half a billion dollars or more than five percent below a hard freeze in the FBI's operating budget without impacting the law enforcement and national security related functions of the FBI?
00:42Please specify exactly which positions would be cut.
00:47Ma'am, at this time, we have not looked at who to cut.
00:52We are focusing our energies on how not to have them cut by coming in here and highlighting to you that we can't do the mission on those 2011 budget levels.
01:02And so what we're focusing on is right now is working with our partners in OMB, the appropriators, to say that we cannot cover down on the mission at the levels that we would have to go to,
01:13which would be the 2011 levels, should all the budget cuts you just outlined be implemented.
01:17So are you talking about coming up here with a budget request that restores the funding that has been cut,
01:32that it's a defunding law enforcement?
01:37You're talking about half a billion dollars below the current level.
01:40How would you restructure the budget to get to where you need in order to be able to make sure that we are not defunding law enforcement
01:50and that we are not cutting the analysts that you need in order to be able to do your job and to be dealing with national security issues?
01:58I don't understand.
02:00You've got a budget request, half a billion dollars less, and you're cutting people.
02:05You don't know who you're going to cut.
02:07Tell us which it is.
02:10Are you going to restore that half billion?
02:12Are you going to request restoring that half billion dollars?
02:15Well, as I said, I'm not the budget expert, but the budget request that we put in, the FBI, was $11.2 billion, I believe.
02:24And we are working through the appropriations process and the OMB process and the skinny budget that we receive to work with you all to help us get to a number.
02:32And I believe if we got back the number you stated, we would not have to cut more FBI bills.
02:38So with a half billion dollar cut, more than 5% below the hard freeze of the FBI's operating budget,
02:47you believe that then this would not impact enforcement or national security related functions?
02:54Then what are the positions, I'm going to ask the question again, what positions are you looking to cut?
03:00What is the cut for this half billion dollars?
03:03Now, apparently that half billion dollars, you're not in the budget department, but this is your budget.
03:11This is your budget.
03:13You have to have some idea of what you want to fund or not fund or where you think you can cut or not cut
03:19and provide that information to OMB.
03:24I'm unclear, and it seems to me that you are, as to what should be the budget of this agency.
03:31And if it's, you know, a half billion dollars lower, what are the positions that you believe will have to be cut
03:39in order to reach the mandate that you are bringing forward to us in terms of your budget?
03:45Well, that's exactly what I'm saying.
03:46That's the proposed budget, not by the FBI.
03:49The proposed budget that I put forward is to cover us for $11.1 billion,
03:55which would not have us cut any positions.
03:58The proposed budget.
04:00So the skinny budget is, is, is, we don't, we don't have, the skinny budget is wrong.
04:10The skinny budget is a proposal, and I'm working through the appropriations process
04:13to explain why we need more than what has been proposed in that budget.
04:17So what, what, what do you need?
04:18You need $11.2 billion?
04:20Approximately.
04:21Okay.
04:21Now, is that going to be delineated?
04:24I don't know what that means in terms of cuts that would be coming up.
04:27Uh, to, to reach that goal.
04:29So there would be no additional positions, uh, uh, uh, uh, deleted from the FBI
04:35if you get that amount of money.
04:37That's correct.
04:37And that's what we anticipate is coming in a budget that we anticipate at some point.
04:42We don't know when we're going to get it, even though we will be in markups by the time
04:46this, this, this, uh, uh, uh, effort is underway.
04:49But, uh, uh, according, according to what we have received from the FBI, there are 904
05:02positions that are currently slated for transfer from Washington, D.C. to field offices, uh,
05:11that are currently vacant.
05:13Is that correct?
05:14Yes, ma'am.
05:14Okay.
05:15Uh, uh, this is, um, what, what, what, is there any explanation of why these positions
05:24are moving to field offices?
05:27One of the things we can't seem to get answers to, and this is not you, is programs are being
05:33deleted, programs that are being frozen, dollars are being frozen, programs that are being cut.
05:39There is, we don't have any sense on this committee, which is the appropriations committee and making
05:45a determination of what we should or shouldn't do is any evaluation from any agency so far.
05:53And I ask this of you, what is the criteria?
05:58What are the programs that are going to be potentially left behind?
06:03What is the evaluation process here that says why these programs are no longer functional,
06:10are not working?
06:11What is the story?
06:12Can we get from you when we're going to get a, you know, some sort of an idea of what is
06:21a budget that you can deal with?
06:24What will be, what, what, what may be cut, what may not be cut, uh, and why?
06:31What was it, what's the criteria by which that these programs, uh, would be, uh, the evaluation
06:38is to, to, to, to, uh, to transfer them out?
06:42Or why are these people going to field offices?
06:44Can we get that from you?
06:46Yeah, I can give it to you right now, ma'am.
06:47And the short answer is to why these folks are going to the field is because we are moving
06:52agents, intel analysts, and SOSs across the country into every state to get a hand level
06:58grasp on violent crime in every single community.
07:01We're moving those folks out there.
07:03Okay.
07:04But I will, I just will wrap up and thank you, Mr. Chairman.
07:06We need to, you need to provide for us, uh, be specified exactly which so-called quote
07:13over head positions are being cut and since other federal agencies are also proposing position
07:19cuts, how won't this cut inevitably reduce the FBI's intelligence analytic capabilities?
07:25We need to have that information before we can determine what the budget is.
07:29Yes, ma'am.
07:30You'll back.
07:31Mr. Klon.