


The Justice Department ended over 4,000 positions as part of a sweeping reorganization, including plans to cut 1,500 personnel from the FBI, according to budget documents reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
The agency’s fiscal 2026 budget request, released Monday, confirms that 4,500 of those positions are already vacant following the Trump administration’s “Fork in the Road” deferred resignation program, which offered employees the chance to exit the government voluntarily in exchange for benefits. That initiative alone yielded an estimated $470 million in savings, according to the budget’s summary page.
Recommended Stories
- Mike Lindell to pay $2.3 million to former employee of leading voting company for defamation
- NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested by ICE at immigration hearing
- Ken Paxton opens investigations into noncitizens voting in Texas during 2024 election
“Capitalizing on increased efficiency, the FBI will prioritize core missions of securing the border, eliminating transnational criminal organizations, reinforcing national security, and protecting the American people from violent crime,” the department says in the summary.
The budget request notes that the total reduction aims to cover 5,093 positions across the DOJ.
Despite the cuts for thousands of career employees, the reduction represents less than 5% of the DOJ’s roughly 105,000-person workforce.
The FBI’s restructuring will include the elimination of more than 700 vacant special agent roles and a relocation of employees out of Washington, D.C., and into field offices, as previously announced by the FBI’s director, Kash Patel, and deputy director, Dan Bongino, last month.
In contrast to the staffing reductions, the DOJ budget request outlines robust investments in key priorities, including nearly $11 billion to combat violent crime and gangs, $10 billion for drug enforcement, and over $3.6 billion for immigration enforcement and border security. The Bureau of Prisons is set to gain nearly 600 correctional officers to address staffing shortages.
Patel testified to Congress last month that the relocations of FBI personnel throughout the country will “enhance investigative capacity” nationwide and improve collaboration with state and local law enforcement.
FBI GIVES CONGRESS FILES ON ALLEGED CHINESE PLOT TO INTERFERE IN 2020 ELECTION
The Trump administration also proposed eliminating entire offices, such as the Community Relations Service and the Tax Division, while consolidating others to align with its enforcement priorities.
Congress must still approve the department’s budget, which faces an overall 7% cut from last year’s levels.