On June 13, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed radical changes to its structure in its 2026 budget proposal.
On top of the 4,500 jobs cut by Trump, the DOJ plans to reduce its workforce by an additional 1,500 jobs. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is taking the brunt of these cuts; it will see the elimination of 1,500 positions, “including over 700 vacant agent positions…”
The FBI will also cope with a budget that is reduced by $545 million. Its personnel will apparently shift from the National Capitol Region to field locations.
More shockingly, in a gift to tax cheats, the DOJ plans to eliminate its tax division. The enforcement work done under that division will be distributed to several other criminal and civil divisions. The division will see a reduction from its current number of approximately 390 attorneys. Former chief tax official David Hubbert, who has forty years of experience at the office, resigned rather than accept an involuntary transfer to the sanctuary cities enforcement group.
However, the most radical decision is the proposed merger between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). This would be illegal to do without Congress, as the ATF is an independent agency. On May 15, the DOJ took this plan a step further by notifying DEA and ATF officials that the merger could be executed (illegally) as soon as October.
A DOJ spokesman redirected questions about the merger to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The OMB is lead by Russ Vought, who has complimented Trump’s dictatorial aspirations with his belief in an imperial presidency that can reshape the federal government without Congressional approval and supersede the judiciary.
While the budget emphasized its lower costs compared to the previous fiscal year, it gave little concern to the criminal, civil, and national security implications to its workforce and budget reductions.
