The $1.7 trillion,
4,155-page omnibus government funding bill released early on Dec. 20, contains funds for the Justice Department (DOJ) to pursue additional prosecutions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
The bill lists various funds, based on Jan. 6 events.
It would give U.S. attorneys $2.63 billion—an increase of $212.2 million—“to further support prosecutions related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and domestic terrorism cases,” according to the
summary provided by the House Appropriations Committee.
The bill also has $734.5 million for the U.S. Capitol Police, up $132 million over fiscal year 2022. That includes incentives for law enforcement personnel for overtime pay, officer retention, and recruiting. These benefits include tuition credits, wellness, and trauma counseling.
It would cover security officers on contract for mission needs and First Responder Unit training, K-9 unit expansion, and Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) facility costs and training, including leadership development and life-cycle replacements for necessary security, safety, and communications equipment.
The Capitol architect would receive $1.3 billion, a $541 million increase over the fiscal year 2022 budget.
Additionally, the bill would include $11.33 billion for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), “for efforts to investigate extremist violence and domestic terrorism.”
The amount represents an increase of $569.6 million compared with the 2022 fiscal year. That would be $524 million above President Joe Biden’s budget request.
“After a lot of hard work, Democrats will fulfill our promise to pass reforms to the Electoral Count Act into law,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Dec. 20.
“Two years after Jan. 6, the attack on our Capitol remains an indelible stain on our democracy, and updating the Electoral Count Act is one of the ways we can prevent another Jan. 6 in the future.”
The omnibus bill includes the intention to make it tougher to reverse a certified presidential election as a direct reaction to the Jan. 6 events at the Capitol. It would raise the threshold for objecting to state electors from one House member and one senator to one-fifth of both chambers.
On Dec. 19, nine members of the Jan. 6 committee
agreed to bring criminal charges against former President Donald Trump related to that day’s events. A conviction on any of the charges would make it illegal for him to run for president again.
The same committee
referred four Republican legislators to the House Ethics Committee for defying subpoenas earlier this year.
On Dec. 20, House Republicans wrote a
letter to Senate Republicans urging them to oppose the omnibus spending bill.
“If Senate Republicans refuse to give the House Republican majority the opportunity to take the pen on FY23 appropriations to enact fiscal restraint and check the Biden administration’s assault on the American people, then what purpose is there to the Republican party outside of an urge for more power, perpetuation of grift, and show hearings?” the letter reads.
If the Senate and House adopt the bill on Dec. 22 and President Joe Biden signs it by Dec. 23, a number of organizations and government agencies will receive significant funding for the fiscal year 2023.
If the bill fails, a government shutdown could begin on Dec. 24 and last months after Republicans take back the House on Jan. 3, 2023.
