FBI investigations were slowed or paralyzed by the second-longest US government shutdown in history, leaving the agency without funds to pay informants or make undercover purchases of drugs or weapons. An FBI spokesperson stated that these deficiencies put national security at risk.
According to five current and three former employees, the FBI does not provide detailed public information on how its $10.7 billion budget is spent, and it is unclear how much of the total was withheld because of the shutdown.
The closure, now in its 30th day, froze FBI funds intended for operational travel, such as when an informant needs to travel to meet with a drug supplier, boss or other investigative subject, the sources said. FBI employees also do not have funds to travel outside of their local areas.
“During a shutdown, the FBI runs out of information,” said retired agent Tom Simon, who worked in counterterrorism and criminal cases and at one point was part of a team that recruited and paid informants. “Without funds to pay informants, the Bureau loses its most important source of real-time intelligence,” said Simon, who retired in 2021 after 26 years with the FBI and now works as a private investigator in Florida.
In response to a Reuters query about the effects of the government shutdown on investigations, the FBI acknowledged that its operations had been affected.
“President Trump has repeatedly called for the reopening of the federal government and the FBI fully agrees with that position,” an FBI spokesperson told Reuters. “As Director (Kash) Patel has already stated, this closure puts the FBI in an extremely difficult position, forcing it to reallocate already limited resources to numerous crucial law enforcement tasks…there is no doubt that those who politicize public funds are putting national security at risk.”
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FBI warns about national security if government shutdown does not end
The shutdown caused hundreds of thousands of workers to be temporarily furloughed, interfered with the collection and distribution of economic data, and threatened to disrupt food and education aid programs. President Donald Trump’s administration has sought ways to continue paying some active-duty law enforcement and military officers, but FBI employees say the agency’s operations are still underfunded.
Democrats, a minority in Congress, abstained from voting on funding bills to extend health insurance subsidies for some 24 million Americans.
“The government shutdown is affecting many investigations, national security, criminal investigations, white collar crimes, etc.,” said former agent Dan Brunner, who worked on cases related to the MS-13 gang.
Handling informants who were not paid requires “some skill on the part of experienced agents” to keep the case moving forward, Brunner explained, adding that this could be complicated given that many experienced agents have left the agency in the last six months.
Last week, the FBI paid its special agents — a small fraction of its staff — but it is unclear whether they or any other agency employees will be paid again during the shutdown.
“It’s a problem that agents get paid and others don’t,” Brunner said. “If this becomes a second or third payment, there will be serious problems and that cannot be allowed.”
With information from Reuters
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