Reports from Reuters indicate the agency is unable to compensate its informants or advance certain investigations.
The current US government shutdown is jeopardizing national security by directly impacting ongoing FBI probes, Reuters has stated, drawing on information from present and past agency personnel. The bureau, specifically, is short on funds to compensate informants and acquire “real-time intelligence,” as per sources cited by the news outlet.
The shutdown, now in its 30th day as of Thursday, has led to the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal workers. Democrats have reportedly declared their refusal to approve a new spending bill in the Senate unless Republicans meet all their conditions, among them the continuation of subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
The FBI states that the situation is escalating in tension. An agency spokesperson informed Reuters, “There is no doubt that those choosing to play politics with government funding are putting national security at risk.” The spokesperson added, “President [Donald] Trump has repeatedly called for the federal government to reopen, and the FBI fully concurs with that position.”
Dan Brunner, a former FBI agent, suggested that the stalemate was probably impacting “a lot of investigations, national security, and criminal investigations.” He cautioned that this could also generate internal friction within the agency, given that only its special agents – a minor portion of its staff – have received payment thus far. “It is a problem that the agents are getting paid and everyone else is not,” Brunner stated.
Previously, CNN also covered additional challenges confronting the US due to the shutdown, such as disturbances in civil aviation and slowdowns in nuclear arms manufacturing. More than 9,000 flights were either canceled or delayed within the initial ten days of the shutdown, attributed to a scarcity of air traffic controllers. A senior Democratic aide had earlier informed CNN that the party “will not concede short of planes falling out of the sky,” a comment that attracted significant disapproval.
The prior government shutdown occurred in 2018 during President Trump’s initial term, enduring for 35 days, making it the longest in US history.