Republicans will approve a huge spending bill that includes billions in funding for FBI, despite recent leaks that revealed the agency had colluded with Twitter to restrict users.
According to the House Appropriations Committee’s summary, the bill allocated $11.33 billion to the FBI “to investigate domestic terrorism and extremist violence.” According to reports, the total is $569.6 millions more than the enacted levels of the 2022 fiscal year, and $524 million less than the president requested.
According to reports, the FBI paid Twitter $3.5 Million dollars in compensation for its staff who responded to agency requests between October 2019 – February 2021. This information was leaked by Elon Musk’s ongoing series “Twitter Files”, which revealed details about Twitter’s involvement in suppressing users. Files also revealed that FBI staff had close relationships with Twitter and were involved in suppressing Hunter Biden’s New York Post article about Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 election.
Twitter was also notified by the FBI that certain tweets were to be removed from its platform. According to files, former FBI agents worked at Twitter as well.
Additional funding was provided for United States Attorneys to “support prosecutions relating to the Jan. 6, attack on Capitol and domestic terrorist cases.” This bill was $2.63 billion more than the FY 2022 budget.
To combat gun violence, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will receive $1.75 billion. This is $215.9 Million more than the FY 2022 enacted level.
The 2023 Omnibus Bill, which was more than 4,000 pages long and amounted to $1.7 trillion, sets out Congress’ budget for next fiscal year (FY). To avoid a shutdown of the government, both chambers must approve the bill by Friday.
Republican Dan Bishop, North Carolina’s representative, tweeted Tuesday that the bill contained the most “egregious” provisions. The bill also funded LGBTQ programs and a wax museum. It also maintained the Michelle Obama Trail.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell backs the Omnibus Bill, but several House Republicans encourage senators to vote “no” and threaten to block any legislation that supports the bill. According to The Hill, Kevin McCarty, Republican House Minority Leader, endorsed the letter on Tuesday.
Daily Caller News Foundation requested comment from the FBI, House Appropriations Committee and McCarthy. The ATF declined comment.
