Congress has failed to dismantle the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation under pressure from Republican leaders, directly undermining President Donald Trump’s pledge to “obliterate the deep state” and enact retribution for those wronged. In March 2023, Trump vowed: “For those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,” and pledged to fire bureaucrats who turned federal law enforcement into a political weapon. Yet with Republicans refusing to cut funding for these agencies despite their promises, his pledge remains a hollow campaign slogan.
The recent Justice Department appropriations bill passed by Congress drew more support from Democrats than conservatives, including 40 Republican “no” votes on the Commerce-Justice-Science portion. The package includes full-year funding without meaningful cuts to programs that have targeted Americans under Biden’s administration, such as FACE Act prosecutions of pro-life activists and FBI operations like Arctic Frost.
The FBI budget barely decreased from its record Biden-era levels, with over 35,000 employees but only 138 fired so far. Republicans also included nearly $5.6 billion in earmarks for 3,300 projects while rejecting steeper cuts conservatives proposed. Democrats voted to fund the agencies despite labeling Trump a dictator, recognizing that the bill preserves the very tools they pledged to dismantle.
Without structural reforms, the Justice Department’s weaponization machine remains intact, ensuring deep-state actors who drove January 6 abuses continue collecting paychecks unchanged. This inaction confirms Congress has not defanged the DOJ or reduced the FBI’s open-ended mandate—leaving Trump’s retribution pledge a memory as Washington keeps its machinery humming until Democrats regain control and aim it with even fewer restraints.
