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1 [1] (May 5, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/fdlbauofinv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service Inforning the legislative debate since 1914 The Federal Bureau of Investigation Updated May 5, 2025 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that it has approximately 38,000 employees as of April 2025. It employs intelligence analysts, language specialists, scientists, and information technology specialists, in addition to special agents, and is headed by a Director, who is appointed to a 10-year term by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The FBI is a part of the Department of Justice, and the Director of the FBI reports to the U.S. Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. Broad changes to FBI operations and structure since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States (9/11) have underscored its dual law enforcement and intelligence missions, among which counterterrorism is the first priority. Budget A sizeable increase in the FBI's budget has accompanied the reprioritization and reorganization of the FBI since 9/11. Much of this expansion has gone to bolstering FBI counterterrorism and intelligence capacities. Nominal appropriations for the FBI have more than tripled, from $3.3 billion in FY2001 to $10.7 billion in FY2025. In inflation-adjusted terms, appropriations for the FBI increased 83%. (Inflation-adjusted amounts are in FY2025 dollars. Appropriations were adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index.) The FBI is funded through two accounts in the annual Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The Salaries and Expenses account funds the FBI's operational expenses, while the Construction account provides funding for capital projects. The majority of the FBI's funding is provided through the Salaries and Expenses account. Mission and Priorities The FBI's mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. The FBI has authority to investigate all federal crime not assigned exclusively to another federal agency (28 U.S.C. §533). It also provides criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies and partners. The FBI describes its priorities as protecting the United States from terrorist attack, protecting the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage, protecting the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes, combating public corruption at all levels, protecting civil rights, combating transnational/national criminal organizations and enterprises, combating major white-collar crime, and combating significant violent crime. The FBI's order of these top eight priorities has not changed since 2002, when it announced them as a response to 9/11. Investigative and Intelligence Work The FBI's 55 field offices in the United States and its legal attaches abroad do much of the FBI's investigative and intelligence work, while three branches in the FBI Headquarters coordinate these efforts. Two-the FBI's National Security Branch and its Intelligence Branch- reflect the focus of the FBI on counterterrorism and intelligence since 9/11. The third-the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch-includes cybercrime as well as investigative programs that can be seen as more traditional aspects of the FBI's mission. The National Security Branch The National Security Branch broadly manages FBI attempts to thwart terrorists and spies (the FBI's first two priorities). Within the National Security Branch there are several divisions, directorates, and centers, including • Counterterrorism Division: responsible for counterterrorism investigations conducted by Joint Terrorism Task Forces throughout the country. The division focuses on disrupting financial, weaponry, and material support and the prosecution of those who plot or commit acts of terrorism. The FBI is the lead agency for federal terrorism investigations (28 C.F.R. §0.85(1)). • Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate: coordinates efforts designed to prevent, mitigate, and respond to the use of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. • Threat Screening Center: maintains the consolidated watch list of known or suspected terrorists and individuals with connections to transnational organized crime, and shares Terrorist Watchlist information with other federal and law enforcement agencies. • Counterintelligence Division: works to counter the activities of foreign spies; protect the secrets of the U.S. Intelligence Community; and protect critical assets such as advanced technologies and sensitive information in the defense, intelligence, economic, financial, public https://crsreport

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