House Republicans Defund Law Enforcement and Give Violent Criminals a Free Pass

WASHINGTON — Today, House Republicans marked up their last partisan fiscal year 2026 funding bill. They used this opportunity—not to write bills to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month—but to advance their extreme 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies funding bill that defunds law enforcement; makes families, women, and children less safe; and hurts our economy.

This bill:

• Threatens national security by defunding law enforcement, eliminating thousands of federal agent and analyst positions, and cutting resources to protect Americans from harm, including violent crime, espionage, domestic and international terrorism, and other threats.
• Makes families, women, and children less safe by slashing legal services, Violence Against Women Act grants, Juvenile Justice grants, Community Violence Intervention and Prevention grants, hate crime prevention grants, and other resources that prevent violence.
• Hurts the economy and harms hardworking Americans who cannot keep up with the high cost of living by gutting Economic Development Administration (EDA) programs that mainly serve rural communities, as well as International Trade Administration (ITA) programs that promote U.S. exports and fight the unfair trade practices of other countries.
• Continues Republicans’ attacks on America’s scientific and economic competitiveness by cutting billions from science, technology development, STEM education, and aeronautics research of NASA and the National Science Foundation.
• Promotes and increases waste, fraud, and abuse by cutting oversight and investigation funding for numerous agency offices of Inspector General.

“This disastrous appropriations bill would abandon small businesses and hard-working Americans, weaken law enforcement, and surrender our nation’s competitive edge,” said Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Ranking Member Grace Meng (NY-06). “It does nothing to address the high cost of living, which is at the forefront of every American’s mind, puts public safety at risk by cutting critical funding for law enforcement and crime prevention programs, and abandons American leadership in science, technology, and innovation by decimating funding for research and education programs. I wholeheartedly disagree with this bill’s approach. We should be doubling down on the investments in science that grow our economy and incentivize advancements that improve life for all Americans. The $2.1 billion in cuts proposed in this legislation would be a betrayal of our fundamental responsibility to keep Americans safe and our economy strong. Therefore, I cannot support it.”

Congresswoman Meng’s full remarks are here. 

“We are weeks away from the end of the fiscal year, and instead of working with Democrats on bills that can become law, Republicans spent their last markup on an extreme, partisan bill that defunds law enforcement, threatens public safety and national security, and cuts funding to protect the United States from harm including espionage, domestic and international terrorism, and other threats,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “Their 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science funding bill completely eliminates several violence prevention grants and weakens law enforcement at all levels. It would force the FBI to reduce its workforce by thousands of positions, underfunding the agency by nearly $1 billion and weakening its ability to fight violent crime and counter threats to our national security. Republicans want to slash resources for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), forcing ATF to reduce its workforce by more than 1,000 positions, hurting its ability to prevent illegal gun trafficking and to assist State and local law enforcement in capturing dangerous criminals. House Republicans are also turning their backs on the scientists and National Weather Service employees who help our communities prepare for extreme weather events and natural disasters. Americans want a safe place to live and raise their families. This bill only makes them less secure.”

Congresswoman DeLauro’s full remarks are here. 

During today’s markup, Democrats fought to:

• Reverse Republican cuts to law enforcement agents and analysts.
• Increase funds for the Office on Violence Against Women.
• Ensure that no funds in the bill are used to close down NOAA weather and climate labs as Americans face more extreme and deadly storms.
• Protect pregnant workers’ rights.
• Restore funding for the Legal Services Corporation.
• Restore funding for Economic Development Assistance.
• Protect taxpayer dollars and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse by restoring funding for agency inspectors general.
• Prohibit taxpayer dollars from being used for settlements with January 6 insurrectionists.
• Force the release of the Epstein files and prohibit funds from being used to block the release of the records related to the Epstein-Maxwell case.

House Republicans rejected these efforts to combat crime and make American communities safer.

A summary of the bill is here. A fact sheet is here. 

The text of the bill, before the adoption of amendments in full committee, is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here.

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