DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
February 10, 2020
Funding Highlights:
• The Department of Justice (DOJ) defends the interests of the United States and protects all Americans as the chief enforcer of Federal laws.
• The Budget prioritizes and protects investments in core Federal Government functions such as national security, cybersecurity, violent crime and targeted violence reduction, immigration, drug enforcement, and the opioid epidemic.
• The Budget eliminates wasteful spending, including $505 million reserved for the construction of a new prison that is unneeded due to the declining prison population, significantly delayed due to the site selected, and very costly to taxpayers; and $244 million in annual funding for the elimination of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which is poorly targeted and an ineffective tool to support immigration enforcement.
• The 2021 Budget requests $31.7 billion for DOJ, a $730 million or 2.3-percent decrease from the 2020 enacted level. The Budget targets funding increases to support public safety and national security while reducing or eliminating lower priority spending.
The President’s 2021 Budget:
DOJ enforces the laws and defends the interests of the United States; ensures public safety against foreign and domestic threats; provides Federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; seeks just punishment for those guilty of crimes; and ensures the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. For the second year in a row, the estimated number of violent crimes in the Nation decreased by 3.3 percent in 2018 when compared to 2017. The Department is committed to building on this success by expanding efforts to dismantle criminal networks, disrupt and prosecute human trafficking rings, halt the flow of illegal drugs, support criminal justice reform, and restore law and order to communities. The 2021 Budget requests a total of $31.7 billion to expand the capacity of key law enforcement agencies and strengthen the Department’s ability to address the most pressing public safety needs.
Supports Federal Law Enforcement and Strengthens National Security
DOJ is committed to restoring law and order by providing Federal resources where they are most needed and most effective. The Budget provides $16 billion for Federal law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the United States
Marshals Service (USMS), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces. These resources support the Department’s ability to respond to national security crises, including cybersecurity, counterintelligence, and transnational organized crime. Funding also supports investigations of violent and drug-related crime, and apprehension and prosecution of offenders.
The Budget also transfers the entirety of the ATF alcohol and tobacco regulatory and enforcement responsibilities to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) in the Department of the Treasury. This transfer would enable the ATF to hone its focus on activities that protect U.S. communities from violent criminals and criminal organizations while consolidating duplicative alcohol and tobacco enforcement mechanisms within the TTB. In addition, the operating capability of the DEA’s Special Investigative Unit program would retain its critical role in enhancing the Federal Government’s ability to pursue threat networks to their source, as prioritized in the National Security Strategy.
Combats Targeted Violence and Address Violent Crime
The Administration is committed to furnishing law enforcement and the communities they serve with the tools to effectively protect against targeted violence incidents and respond appropriately in the event of tragedy. The Budget provides $639 million for the Department to surge law enforcement to address violent crime and targeted violence. Of this, $329 million is provided to support additional agents and personnel at DOJ’s law enforcement components, and $310 million is devoted to DOJ grant programs supporting State and local law enforcement, including $150 million for STOP School Violence programs, $33 million for Mental Health Collaboration, and $13 million for active shooter training.
Enforces Immigration Laws
The Administration remains committed to robust enforcement of the Nation’s immigration laws and ensuring a safe homeland for all Americans. The Budget provides $883 million to support 100 immigration judge teams and to expand DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) electronic case management systems. Administration policies have in-creased immigration enforcement, driving a growing case backlog at EOIR. By the end of 2019, there were more than 987,000 cases pending before the courts, after receiving nearly 444,000 cases during the year, the highest level of initial cases received in EOIR’s history. EOIR continues to attack the backlog by bolstering levels of Immigration Judge teams, who are responsible for adjudicating the cases, and through gaining other efficiencies, including modernization of EOIR’s information technology systems. The Budget also provides $2.1 billion to support USMS’ Federal Prisoner Detention, which is projected to increase in population due to enhanced enforcement of gun, drug, and immigration crimes.
“My Administration is committed to leveraging every resource we have to confront this threat, to support the victims and survivors, and to hold traffickers accountable for their heinous crimes.”
President Donald J. Trump
October 11, 2018
Combatting Human Trafficking
Counters Human Trafficking
The Administration is committed to ending the scourge of human trafficking in the United States. The Budget provides $70 million to support the investigative and prosecutorial capacity of the Department, including $44 million for FBI investigations of child sex trafficking, $14 million for U.S. Attorneys prosecution efforts, $6 million for the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, $5 million for the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, and $1 million for USMS activities to recover missing children. An additional $123 million is provided to DOJ grant programs supporting State and local efforts to address human trafficking, including $80 million to support victims of trafficking, $40 million to support multi-disciplinary efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking, and $3 million for human trafficking research.
“It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction…We can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic.”
President Donald J.
Trump October 26, 2017
Protecting Americans from Opioids
Promotes Criminal Justice Reform
In addition to prosecuting crime and enforcing the Nation’s laws, the Administration proposes to promote public safety by helping prevent individuals who have reentered society from returning to prison. Approximately 95 percent of incarcerated persons will eventually leave prison. However, individuals released from State prison have a five-year recidivism rate of 77 percent, and those re-leased from Federal prison have a five-year recidivism rate of 42 percent. The Administration is committed to breaking this cycle of recidivism by better preparing individuals to reenter communities and mitigating the collateral consequences of incarceration.
“Americans from across the political spectrum can unite around prison reform legislation that will reduce crime while giving our fellow citizens a chance at redemption.”
President Donald J. Trump November 14, 2018
Bipartisan Prison Reform
To meet this challenge, the Budget provides $319 million in new funding for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to support robust implementation of the historic FIRST STEP Act of 2018. Of this amount, the Budget provides $244 million to increase residential reentry center capacity by 8,700 beds; $37 million to make medication-assisted drug treatment available at all eligible BOP facilities; $23 million to meet the increasing demand for mental health, life skills, special needs, and educational and vocational programs; and $15 million to bolster other implementation activities. This investment would expand inmate access to evidence-based, recidivism-reducing programs and incentivize participation by allowing inmates to earn earlier transfers to residential reentry centers. In addition, through State and local assistance programs, the Budget provides $88 million for the Second Chance Act grant program to reduce recidivism and help returning citizens lead productive lives.
Tackles the Opioid Epidemic
Today, the United States faces the deadliest drug overdose crisis in American history. More than 67,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses in 2018. Evidence shows that fentanyl, heroin, and prescription opioids are responsible for nearly 47,000 of these tragic deaths. The Department recognizes its critical role in combating prescription opioid misuse and illicit heroin and fentanyl use. The Budget provides $2.4 billion in discretionary resources for the DEA, including an additional $67 million to enhance efforts to identify, investigate, disrupt, and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations and online illicit drug marketplaces impacting the safety and security of communities across the Nation. The Budget also provides $460 million in fee-funded re-sources for DEA’s Diversion Control Fee account to combat the diversion of licit prescription drugs and precursor chemicals for manufacturing illicit synthetic drugs.
These efforts are bolstered by an additional $6 million to support 10 new attorneys and support staff to ensure that the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to generate drug cases for prosecution. In addition, the Budget includes $361 million for opioid-related
State and local assistance including $160 million for the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program to support treatment and recovery, diversion, and alternatives to incarceration programs; $132 million for Drug Courts, Mental Health Courts, and Veterans Treatment Courts; $30 million for Residential Substance Abuse Treatment; $30 million for Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs; and $9 million for Opioid-Affected Youth.
Supports State and Local Law Enforcement
While the Administration recognizes that both the role and responsibility for funding policing is inherently local, the Budget provides funding for key State and local assistance programs in order to help address the most pressing criminal justice issues impacting America’s communities, including $412 million for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grants Program, which provides State and local governments with crucial Federal funding to prevent and control crime. Included in that amount, the Budget provides $40 million for the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, which leverages Federal, State, and local partnerships to address gang violence and gun crime. An additional $97 million is provided for programs supporting research and innovation for law enforcement, including $44 million for the National Institute of Justice, $43 million for the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and $10 million for Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants. The Budget further reflects the Administration’s commitment to support rural communities by providing $56 million to grant programs specifically targeted to those communities.
SOURCE: Budget of the U.S. Government, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2021.
