A day after saying FBI needs more resources, Patel strikes different
tone to Congress on budget plan
[May 09, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON
(AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday that he would make the
bureau's mission “work on whatever budget we're given,” striking a
different tone from comments a day earlier in which he called for the
agency to be funded at far higher levels than what the Trump
administration had proposed.
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FBI director Kash Patel arrives on the South Lawn of the White House
before President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate
in the White House Easter Egg Roll, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Alex Brandon, File) |
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The 2026 budget proposal released on Friday calls for a funding
cut of about $545 million for the FBI as part of what the White
House said was a desire to “reform and streamline” the bureau
and reduce “non-law enforcement missions that do not align” with
the priorities of President Donald Trump
Patel told lawmakers at a House Appropriations subcommittee
hearing on Wednesday that the FBI needs “more than what has been
proposed” to operate as it should and that it "can’t do the
mission on those 2011 budget levels.”
But on Thursday, appearing at a separate hearing of a Senate
Appropriations subcommittee, he took a different stance when
asked by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland about his
earlier testimony that the FBI required substantially more money
than what the Trump budget plan had called for.
“My view is that we agree with this budget as it stands and
(will) make it work for the operational necessity of the FBI,
and as the head of the FBI, I was simply asking for more funds
because I can do more with more money,” he said.
He added that he would “make the mission work on whatever budget
we're given.”
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