The Department of Defense budget for FY2008 is currently under debate in Congress. In preparing for a future entry on the details of the Defense budget, I found a lot of interesting things in the Federal Budget that are either unreported or underreported. Therefore, I thought I’d share some of the interesting things I found in the 2008 Federal Budget.
Department of Justice:
The 2008 Budget provides $5.4 billion for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and $1.3 billion for the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee (OFDT). These DOJ components ensure that Federal criminals and those awaiting trial or sentencing are safely and cost-effectively incarcerated and detained. At present, there are more than 193,000 inmates in BOP’s custody, of whom approximately 64 percent were convicted of immigration or drug-related offenses. The population of Federal detainees in the custody of OFDT has experienced record growth, having more than doubled during the past decade. The President's Budget requests $169 million to expand prison capacity by completing the first phase of the activation of a new prison in Pollock, Louisiana, completing a current prison project in Mendota, California, and expanding the number of contract prison beds by more than 1,100.
The President’s Budget provides $2.8 billion to continue the fight against illegal drugs, including $2.0 billion for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and $509 million for the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. Together, DEA and OCDETF fight the spread of illegal drugs and seek to dismantle and disrupt major drug trafficking organizations. The Budget also provides $350 million in funding for criminal justice needs, including drug-related priorities, through the new, consolidated Byrne Public Safety and Protection Grants. These competitive grants will provide funding for State and local needs, including drug courts, methamphetamine lab cleanup, Project Safe Neighborhoods, the DNA Initiative, and offender reentry. This is less than 13% of the Federal outlay for drug enforcement, and of course much of this outlay is not for drug treatment or medical care at all.
The Department of Justice 2008 budget includes an increase in discretionary spending on the FBI of $732 million, an increase in spending on the DEA of $119 million, and an increase of $98 million for the ATF. But the budget for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and the Office on Violence Against Women is being cut by over 50%, a reduction of $1.427 billion from its 2007 budget.
The OMB projects that the cancellation of the Crime Victims Fund will save the Department of Justice $1.338 billion in 2008. Payments from the fund were paid for by fines to convicted criminals, such as the only remaining part of the sentence to I. Lewis Libby. Rather than giving that money to the victims of crime, that money will now be used to help subsidize the Federal government.
The OMB projects that this budget still leaves the Department of Justice $146 million dollars short of budgeted outlays, despite asking for $24.121 billion.
Department of Homeland Security:
The Department of Homeland Security 2008 budget cuts the budget for Citizenship and Immigration Services by over 75%, from $182 million to $30 million, with an additional legislative proposal to increase application fees for prospective immigrants for a further savings of $4 million. At the same time, the budget proposes increasing the budget for Customs and Border Protection by $2.349 billion, for a total of $8.791 billion. The budget for Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be increased by $337 million.
The budget for the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be cut by $826 million. The budget for Direct Loan Disbursements for Disaster Assistance (which have to be repaid) will be cut by $437 million, leaving a total of only $79 million dollars in Federal Disaster Assistance loans available. The total estimated budget for the Department of Homeland Security is projected as being slightly less than $26 billion less than in FY 2006. The overwhelming majority of savings is from over $17 billion in reduced spending on FEMA, with another $1 billion saved by increasing fee-based services. Despite the massive reductions in FEMA spending, the OMB advertises the President’s FY 2008 budget thusly: "Strengthens FEMA by improving partnerships with States and professionalizing the national emergency management system."