FBI Director Kash Patel told lawmakers Wednesday that he is working to avoid a proposed $545 million in cuts to the agency outlined in the White House’s budget request for fiscal 2026, saying those reductions would force him to fire 1,300 employees.
Patel, appearing before the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee, acknowledged there was a stark distance between funding the FBI needs to do its mission and the figure indicated in the White House’s “skinny” budget request released last week.
The Trump administration’s budget proposed $10.1 billion in FBI salaries and expenses funding, about a 5 percent cut from current funding levels, according to a written statement from Patel that was submitted before the hearing.
