FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday told House lawmakers that he needed more funding than the White House requested in its recent budget outline and warned that the bureau would not be able to fulfill its mission and would have to cut thousands of jobs if a proposed $545 million cut was enacted. Instead, he asked for an $11.1 billion budget, a $1 billion increase. On Thursday, Patel abruptly reversed course and told a Senate hearing that he agreed with the White House’s proposal.
Patel’s budget comments Wednesday were a rare and highly unusual public disagreement between an agency and an administration. “President Trump’s handpicked FBI Director just admitted that the budget requested by his Administration is not enough to meet the needs of the agency,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.
Patel said Thursday he’d make the White House funding level work. “We will make and agree with this budget as it stands,” he said, “and as the head of the FBI I was simply asking for more funds because I can do more with more money.”