Republicans worry Trump’s ‘defund the FBI’ push could hurt their crime message

Former President Donald Trump called for Republicans on Capitol Hill to cut funding for the FBI and Justice Department after his indictment, potentially affecting the GOP’s tough-on-crime messaging.

Trump’s comments came not only amid his own criminal charges in New York but also broader conservative concerns about the “weaponization” of the legal and criminal justice systems.

TRUMP CALLS FOR DEFUNDING FBI AND DOJ WHILE PARTY OPPOSES DEFUNDING THE POLICE

The former president said Congress should “DEFUND THE DOJ AND FBI UNTIL THEY COME TO THEIR SENSES” in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday responding to the Justice Department’s investigation of whether he mishandled classified documents at his personal residence and whether he incited the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The post also came after Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, endorsed a similar following the initial reports about Trump’s New York indictment, saying Congress could consider cutting the funding of federal agencies he thinks are interfering with elections

“We control the power of the purse, and … we’re gonna have to look at the appropriations process and limit funds going to some of these agencies, particularly the ones who are engaging in the most egregious behavior,” Jordan said in an interview on Fox News.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has already given Jordan permission to examine federal funding for prosecutors like Manhattan’s Alvin Bragg investigating Trump.

“I’m directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions,” McCarthy tweeted on March 18.

After Trump’s arraignment Tuesday, McCarthy tweeted the investigation “used federal funds” and vowed “Bragg’s weaponization of the federal justice process will be held accountable by Congress.”

Republicans have championed the message this year that Democrats and the Biden administration are weak on crime after violent crime is up nationwide, especially in major cities, where Democrats have their main support base. Last year, Gallup found that a record 56% of people reported crime had gone up in their area, which was the highest uptick since the poll first started asking the question in 1972. A follow-up survey in January found that 72% of people expected crime to continue to rise this year. In the nation’s capital, homicides were up 30% over last year.

While the majority of Republicans have criticized Bragg’s case against Trump as politically motivated, experts and strategists are sounding the alarm over Trump’s call to cut federal law enforcement money amid what appears to be a national crime wave.

“Republicans, regardless of what they have said about the indictments and so forth, most of which I agree with, don’t want the topic of the day to be Donald Trump. That’s enough of a problem,” said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist and former communications director at the Republican National Committee. “When Trump then forces something like essentially saying defund the police, because when you’re making grand pronouncements, nuance is lost. When Democrats have said, ‘Oh, I don’t want to defund the police; that’s not what I meant’ — Trump is potentially putting Republicans in that same position.”

Heye recommends Republicans, especially those in swing districts, should come out powerfully against Trump’s defund the Justice Department and FBI message.

“They absolutely should. Nuance gets lost in things like this. You can have hearings, you can investigate, but when you’re talking about defunding the FBI, that’s talking about defunding the police. That gets directly in the way of the rule of law messaging,” Heye added.

Of the 18 House Republicans who represent districts President Joe Biden won in 2020, few of them have publicly rejected Trump’s demand to defund law enforcement so far. According to PunchBowl News, only Reps. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), Young King (R-CA), and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) have made it clear they do not support Trump’s calls to defund the Justice Department and FBI.

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The comments from Trump come against the backdrop of a looming summer showdown over raising the debt limit, which will include a lengthy battle over spending levels and priorities. House Republicans could attempt to cut funding for those federal agencies in major spending legislation, complicating the efforts of their narrow majority to pass a funding bill. In his bid to become House speaker, McCarthy promised holdouts the chamber would pass major cuts in fiscal 2024 appropriations bills. Senate Democrats and even Republicans also likely will not go along with any of those cuts.

“That absolutely will never happen,” said a Senate Republican aide who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “We already are dealing with an absolute mess on the House side with them trying to negotiate a debt ceiling increase. We do not need another issue like this haunting us in the next election.”