The Justice Department today released a blueprint for its 2010 budget. President Barack Obama has set aside $26.5 billion for the agency, a 3.5 percent ($927.5 million) increase over the FY 2009 budget. Click here for a pdf of the DOJ budget document from the Office of Management and Budget, and have a look at the breakdown -- from a DOJ handout (thanks, DCLawyer) -- after the jump.
A DOJ spokeswoman says the actual proposed budget, in nitty gritty detail, will be released in April.
The proposed budget:
• Provides $8 billion for the FBI, including $425 million in enhancements, and $88 million for the National Security Division to address the Attorney General’s highest priority -- protecting Americans from terrorist acts. Funding supports the detection and disruption of terrorists, counterintelligence, cyber security, and other threats against our national security.
• Provides resources for additional FBI agents to investigate mortgage fraud and corporate crime and for additional federal prosecutors, civil litigators and bankruptcy attorneys to protect investors, the integrity of the market, and the federal government’s investment of resources in the nation’s financial recovery.
• Expands the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program by providing funds to begin hiring 50,000 additional police officers. Supports the hiring of police nationwide in order to help states and communities prevent the growth of crime.
• Includes $145 million for the Civil Rights Division to strengthen civil rights enforcement against racial, ethnic, sexual preference, religious and gender discrimination.
• Includes resources for a comprehensive approach to enforcement along our borders that combines law enforcement and prosecutorial component efforts to investigate arrest, detain, and prosecute illegal immigrants and other criminals. The initiative also enhances the Department’s ability to track fugitives from justice and combat gunrunners and illegal drug traffickers.
• Provides $6 billion for the Bureau of Prisons and $1.4 billion for the Office of the Detention Trustee to ensure that sentenced criminals and detainees are housed in facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and secure.
• Includes $109 million for prisoner reentry programs, including an additional $75 million for the Office of Justice Programs to expand grant programs authorized by the Second Chance Act that provide counseling, job training, drug treatment, and other transitional assistance to former prisoners.
• Provides funds for continuing the phased implementation of the Unified Financial Management System. This initiative will unify and standardize the Department’s financial, accounting and procurement systems and processes to improve the efficiency and integrity of these functions.
These bullets read as if they come straight from talking points prepared by DOJ. That's not to say that they aren't accurate, but I doubt they reflect Mr. Palazzolo's independent analysis.
Posted by: DCLawyer | February 26, 2009 at 01:06 PM