House Republicans Defund Law Enforcement, Make America Less Safe

Republican cuts open communities up to more mass shootings, hurt the economy, and threaten national security.

WASHINGTON — House Republicans today released the draft fiscal year 2025 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies funding bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. The legislation defunds law enforcement, makes us less safe, and hurts our economy.

For 2025, the bill provides $80.5 billion, a decrease of $1.3 billion – 2 percent – below 2024. The legislation:

• Threatens national security by defunding Federal law enforcement, eliminating thousands of Federal agent, analyst, and prosecutor positions, and cutting resources to protect the United States from harm, including espionage, domestic and international terrorism, and other threats.
• Makes families and children less safe by slashing legal services, Violence Against Women Act grants, Juvenile Justice grants, Community Violence Intervention and Prevention grants, hate crimes grants, and other resources that prevent violence.
• Opens our schools, grocery stores, churches, concerts, and communities up to more devastating mass shootings by making it easier for guns to end up in the wrong hands.
• Hurts the economy and harms hardworking Americans who cannot keep up with the high cost of living by cutting funding for the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and gutting Economic Development Administration (EDA) programs that predominately serve rural communities.
• Continues Republicans’ attacks on women’s health and safety by barring funding for the Reproductive Rights Task Force, litigation against States or local governments regarding abortion laws, and certain protections for women in the workplace. 

“Once again, the current leadership of the House is proposing harmful cuts to Federal law enforcement, in order to satisfy their most extreme Members,” Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee Ranking Member Matt Cartwright (D-PA-08) said. “These cuts will force the FBI to reduce its workforce by thousands, and will also force huge reductions in Federal prosecutors and other Federal personnel who fight violent crime, terrorism, espionage, and other dangerous threats. The bill also guts funding for economic development efforts in distressed communities, slashes funding for agencies that fight the unfair trade practices of other countries, and cuts funding for efforts to combat violence against women and prevent juvenile delinquency. I urge my colleagues to join me in rejecting this harmful and misguided bill.”

“Instead of joining Democrats in decreasing crime and helping Americans feel secure, House Republicans are eliminating law enforcement positions and cutting resources for programs that prevent violence, mass shootings, and terrorist attacks,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “In their 2025 Commerce, Justice, Science bill, House Republicans are once again attacking women’s health and slashing legal services and programs that help prevent hate crimes and violence against women and children. By cutting federal law enforcement and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, they are making it harder to prosecute dangerous criminals while making it easier for big corporations and billionaires to take advantage of Americans. This bill would hurt the economy by gutting programs that help create jobs, especially in rural communities. House Republicans are pursuing the same irresponsible and dangerous tactics they tried last year. Once again, they are more focused on sowing division and playing political games than keeping Americans safe.”

A summary of House Republicans’ 2025 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies funding bill is here. A fact sheet is here. The text of the bill is here. The subcommittee markup will be webcast live and linked on the House Committee on Appropriations website.

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