A day after saying FBI needs more resources, Patel strikes different note to Congress on budget plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel pledged Thursday to make the bureau’s mission “work on whatever budget we’re given,” striking a different tone from comments a day earlier in which he called for the agency to be funded at far higher levels than what the Trump administration had proposed.

The 2026 budget proposal released on Friday calls for a funding cut of about $545 million for the FBI as part of what the White House said was a desire to “reform and streamline” the bureau and reduce “non-law enforcement missions that do not align” with the priorities of President Donald Trump

He told lawmakers at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that the FBI needs “more than what has been proposed” and “can’t do the mission on those 2011 budget levels.”

But on Thursday, appearing at a separate hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he took a different stance when asked by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland about his earlier testimony that the FBI required substantially more money to operate what the Trump budget plan had called for.

“My view is that we agree with this budget as it stands and (will) make it work for the operational necessity of the FBI, and as the head of the FBI, I was simply asking for more funds because I can do more with more money,” he said.

He added that he would “make the mission work on whatever budget we’re given.”

__

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.