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FEDERALhearing transcript
High Impact

Senate Hearing on 2018 Department of Justice Budget

Original title: COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018

January 1, 2017

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The Frame

What this does

The proposed budget would shift federal resources toward hiring 230 new s, 70 border enforcement prosecutors, and 65 new immigration judge teams, while reducing the total DOJ budget by $637 million.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Department of Justice

The agency faces a $637 million budget reduction and a shift in enforcement priorities.

Federal Prosecutors

Prosecutors are directed to pursue the most serious charges and sentences possible.

Immigration Judges

The budget proposes hiring 65 new judge teams to address case backlogs.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2017.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing to review the Department of Justice's proposed $28.3 billion budget for fiscal year 2018. The session focused on the administration's plans to increase funding for immigration enforcement and violent crime prosecution while reducing the overall DOJ budget by $637 million.

Key Facts

  • The President proposes a total DOJ budget of $28.3 billion for fiscal year 2018, a decrease of $637 million.
  • The budget requests 230 new assistant U.S. Attorneys to focus on violent crime.
  • The budget requests 70 additional border enforcement prosecutors.
  • The budget requests 40 new deputy U.S. marshals to address criminal alien issues.
  • The budget requests 20 attorneys and support staff for civil condemnation work related to the Southwest border wall.
  • The budget requests 20 attorneys and support staff for immigration litigation assistance.
  • The budget requests an increase of $65 million for the Executive Office for Immigration Review to hire 65 new immigration judge teams.
  • The current backlog of immigration cases is reported at 600,000.
  • The Attorney General has directed federal prosecutors to pursue the most serious charges and sentences possible.
  • The Department of Justice has established a Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is the Department of Justice's total budget request for 2018?
The proposed budget is $28.3 billion, which represents a $637 million decrease from the previous year.
How many new immigration judges are being proposed?
The budget seeks funding for 65 new immigration judge teams.
What is the current backlog of immigration cases?
The backlog is reported to be 600,000 cases.

Why It Matters

The proposed budget would shift federal resources toward hiring 230 new s, 70 border enforcement prosecutors, and 65 new immigration judge teams, while reducing the total DOJ budget by $637 million.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Lobbying Activity

AARP

$4,110,000

2026

HEALTH ISSUESMEDICARE/MEDICAIDLAW ENFORCEMENT/CRIME/CRIMINAL JUSTICEPHARMACY

P.L. 119-21, One Big Beautiful Bill Act H.R. 8867, Planning for Long-term Aging Needs (PLAN) Act H.R. 5861, Legacy Act of 2025 H.R. 9393, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act. H.R. 9396, the Prior Authorization Accountability Act. S. 4916, the Aging with Artificial Intelligence Act. H.R. 8100, Safe Staffing Saves Lives Act. S. 3886, Nurses Belong in Nursing Homes Act. H.R. 6766/S. 3492, the Essential Caregivers Act of 2025. H.R. 7966/S. 4118, Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act. S. 2120, the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025 H.R. 5575, the Firefighters Assisting Seniors to Emergency Response (FASTER) Act of 2025. H.R. 3954/S. 4641, Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act. H.R.5554/S.2831, Stand Strong for Medicare Act. S. 3439/H.R. 6735, Connecting Caregivers to Medicare Act and efforts related to the bill S. 1227/H.R. 2491, Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers Act S. 668/H.R. 3183, Supporting Access to Falls Education and Prevention and Strengthening Training Efforts and Promoting Safety Initiatives (SAFE STEPS) for Veterans Act of 2025 CMS-1851-P, Hospice Proposed rule. CMS-1843-P, Skilled Nursing Facility Proposed rule. CMS-1844-P, Home Health Proposed rule. No bill number. Health care transparency. No bill number. Discussed use of artificial intelligence and health data technology. No bill number. Discussed health-related policies and activities around the fall respiratory virus season. No bill number. Discussed health insurance affordability proposals. No bill number. Discussed Nursing Home staffing standards, safety, and quality. No bill number. Discussed Nursing home transparency and ownership requirements. No bill number. Discussed home health, hospice, and long-term care. No bill number. Discussed falls prevention. No bill number. Discussed social isolation. No bill number. Discussed HUD Assisted Living Requirements No bill number. Discussed family caregiving. No bill number. Discussed AARP paper on Medicare Caregiver Training Services. No bill number. Discussed Medicaid community engagement interim final rule, including the family caregiver exemption. No bill number. Discussed the paid direct care workforce in long-term care. No bill number. Discussed the unaffordability of long-term care. No bill number. Discussed Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration Program and Medicaid HCBS spousal impoverishment protections. No bill number. Discussed Medicaid fraud and family caregivers, Medicaid self-direction programs. No bill number. Discussed sandwich generation family caregiver hearing and submitted a statement for the record discussing family caregivers and sandwich generation caregivers, programs that support them, AARP caregiving resources, and federal policies to support sandwich generation caregivers and caregivers more broadly. No bill number. Discussed long-term care. No bill number. CMS-2453-NC; Medicaid Program; 2028 Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Quality Measure Set Submitted comments No bill number. Discussed expanding access to home care. No bill number. Discussed the increasing cost of home care No bill number. Discussed HSA use for telehealth chronic care management services/subscriptions. No bill number. Discussed artificial intelligence and technology

Sponsors

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift100% confidence

Shift in Prosecution Strategy

The DOJ explicitly moved away from lenient charging policies toward a mandate to pursue the most serious charges possible.

Connected Entities

personRod J. RosensteinDeputy Attorney GeneralMap →
personRichard ShelbyChairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related AMap →
personRobert MuellerSpecial CounselMap →
personJeanne ShaheenU.S. SenatorMap →
personJeff SessionsAttorney GeneralMap →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance85
    How much this matters to a regular citizen
  • Controversy75
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment60
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz50
    Current news / social attention level

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