'There Isn't A Worse Possible Time': Glenn Ivey Warns Pam Bondi Against FBI Staff Cuts Following Iran Strike

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During a House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) asked Attorney General Pam Bondi about cuts included in President Trump's proposed DOJ budget for FY 2026.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to follow up on what Congressman Gonzalez raised with you

00:05with respect to the new environment that we're in now with the essentially a war with Iran.

00:13A few weeks ago, your FBI director sat in the same chair and said that he thought in the budget

00:21that's been proposed, they're about $11.2 billion short. He wanted an additional 1100

00:29positions that were lost to attrition and 1300 he wanted to have filled. That's before the scenario

00:37with Iran. Now, I know you submitted the budget already and you want to stick with it, but please

00:43take another look. This is a new environment. I think the points that the Congressman raised are

00:47very valid with respect to the issue of sleeper cells and threats domestically here. Taking FBI

00:54agents off the street now is a bad, there isn't a worse possible time you could do it. So please

01:01reconsider that and move in a different direction on that because we need more of them on the street,

01:07not fewer. Ms. DeLauro was raising issues with respect to your budget, the IOI cuts and the 86 agents

01:15that are going to be cut too. And the concern I have on that front, I know you're saying we need,

01:20they want to be on the street, but there are ATF agents that do things that aren't on the street.

01:24So like, for example, the Nibbin work where they match the cartridges to the guns

01:31is critical. And I'm very concerned that some of the cuts you're going to make are going to impact

01:37that. And the Nibbin piece is critical for state and local law enforcement. It's like you used to be

01:42because a lot of them don't have the resources to track it down. And the information that they can get,

01:48you can turn it around in 48 hours. So the man who attempted to assassinate now President Trump,

01:54the connection that was made was through this apparatus, this approach, the same thing with the

02:00Minnesota assassin. So that's an area where we can't afford to have those kind of cuts, I don't think

02:05at this time. And the performance of fewer regulatory inspections. You know, I had gun dealers in my

02:13district who needed those inspections to take place. And important findings have been made,

02:20certainly with respect to track, tracking crime guns, and cracking down down on gun dealers who

02:25are working illicitly. I'm not saying they all do. I mean, many of them operate in the right way.

02:32But the only way to track it down this through inspections, that have to be aggressive. And by the

02:38way, even under the current regime, or the previous regime, I think some of them didn't get inspections

02:43for maybe every 10 years or so. So it wasn't like it's, it's a constant harassment piece. But I've got

02:50some folks here in the corner of the hearing room, who are from my district, Moms Demand Action, DMV

02:56Mothers Like Me, Women's Missionary Society. I met with them a few weeks ago. And the concern was the issue

03:03of gun violence on our streets, and the desire to make sure that the federal presence continues to

03:09push hard to make sure we close those cases. You're reducing resources, you're taking eight, you're

03:14reducing the number of agents, as Mr. Patel said, that's moving in the opposite direction. What response

03:21would you give to them with respect to the steps that you're taking to make sure not only that we stay

03:27safe, but we get even safer and do even more to get violent offenders off the street and get the

03:33guns off the street before the violent offenders get them? So first, Congressman Ivey, you're a former

03:39prosecutor, and I'm smiling because I could see that in some of your questions. Thank you for those

03:44questions. I'm going to try to answer them all in order of how you ask them. You ask about the FBI,

03:50our budget, and Director Patel clarified that in front of the Senate, I think, and our budget includes

03:57$10.1 billion, 12,926 agents for the FBI. I think clarification would be gentle. It was a complete

04:05flip-flop on what he said when he was here. And he was asked three times by Ms. DeLauro just to make

04:12sure that he was right about what he had said when he was testifying. They prioritized realignment of

04:17personnel to the field to carry out national security, which you just talked about, intelligence,

04:22criminal law enforcement, and criminal justice missions. Can I do this? Can I just keep, I only

04:28have 34 seconds to answer you, and I really want to answer. You're asking three questions, and you

04:33haven't let me answer one. I'd love to get your answers in writing. Quick questions. When you were

04:39the Attorney General in Florida, you offered, you offered after the Parkland shooting,

04:45I believe this is my time, under the rules, and I had... Can we stop the clock?

04:56Stop the clock at a different... Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, what I just said was, if you could submit

05:09your answers in writing, that would be great. I don't think I've made any kind of statement that's

05:14been accusatory with respect to her or her professional reputation. There's been no attack

05:20on her. These were just questions that were asked. I'm seeking the answers in writing,

05:25which would be great, but I have a couple others that I'd like to ask to, and we'll do them on...

05:31No, it hasn't. You cut me off when there were 30 seconds left. Yeah, so...

05:38Well, that's true, too. A couple of you all went over like a minute and a half.

05:44I've been talking over almost two minutes.

05:48I just would like my 30 seconds back, and then if she can submit answers in writing,

05:53that'll be fine. But, you know, but I want to get these questions in while she's here.

05:59Go ahead. No, no, no.

06:02I want to ask the questions, and she can submit the answers. This is my five minutes. I get to do it,

06:08the way I want to do it, under the committee rules and under the House rules. These are my five minutes.

06:14And as I said, I have not been disrespectful to this witness. I have not.

06:27When you were the Attorney General in Florida, after the Parkland shooting,

06:32my understanding is you moved to ban gun sales to people under 21. Is that a position that you would

06:39take now as the Attorney General? I have a bill, H.R. 2368, which does something like that. I would

06:46be interested in if you'd be willing to co-sponsor or support that bill. You also moved to enact red

06:52red flag laws allowing a judge temporarily to confiscate weapons when he or she viewed that the

06:59person was at risk of hurting himself or someone else. Is that a position you would continue to

07:06support now? And the last one is ghost guns. Ghost guns, I don't think you took a position on it back

07:12when you were the AG in Florida. But we've had two bills come through here in the Congress,

07:19all Democratic co-sponsors. I think there's no argument that ghost guns have any, you know,

07:25appropriate use on the street. They only help criminals avoid prosecution.

07:29Would you support a legislative ban on ghost guns? And with that, I yield back.

07:34I yield back. Thank you, Chairman Rogers.

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