House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) laid out targets within the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and FBI he wants included in any appropriations for the agencies this year, ranging from blocking funds for a new FBI building to defunding President Biden’s immigration policies.
“Since the start of the 118th Congress, the Committee on the Judiciary and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government have been conducting oversight to address the problems created by the Biden Administration and to protect fundamental civil liberties. This work has generated a number of potential reforms that the House of Representatives can advance through its ‘power of the purse,’” Jordan said in a letter to House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-Texas) Tuesday.
The House is in the process of crafting its annual appropriations bills ahead of a Sept. 30 funding deadline — bills conservatives aim to use to push their priorities.
Jordan told reporters Tuesday that he has received “really positive feedback” from Granger’s staff about his proposals.
For Jordan, one top priority is blocking the FBI from moving its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to the Virginia or Maryland suburbs, as it has been planning for years.
“The centralization of FBI operations in the National Capitol Region has led to duplication of activity best left to the respective field offices, contributed to reduced autonomy in local field offices, and allowed improper political influence to taint law enforcement investigations and activity,” Jordan said.
Instead, Jordan suggests that the FBI move its headquarters out of the Washington area and explore using an existing FBI campus in Huntsville, Ala., as a new headquarters.
A number of other suggestions take aim at what Republicans argue is a politically biased law enforcement system, including establishing a policy that requires career Justice Department staff rather than political appointees to oversee “politically sensitive” investigations.
Jordan also aims to block funding to enforce a number of immigration, asylum and border enforcement policies crafted by the Biden administration.
“The Committee recommends prohibiting taxpayer dollars from being used to implement the Biden Administration’s radical immigration policies,” Jordan said.
A recently approved rule under the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to restrict the use of pistol brace attachments would also be reversed if Jordan gets his way. The House passed legislation to repeal the rule earlier this year, but it failed in the Senate.
Turning to foreign policy, Jordan aims to block any federal funds from being used to oppose Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reform efforts.
And Jordan wants to prohibit agencies from labeling any communications from U.S. individuals as misinformation or malinformation.
A number of Jordan’s proposed measures would be non-starters for Democrats, and even if approved in the appropriations bill related to his agencies, could be stripped from any final appropriations measure approved by the Senate.
Mychael Schnell contributed.