President Joe Biden slammed Republicans on Tuesday after several of them called for the defunding of the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies.
Biden delivered a speech in Monterey Park, California, where in January a gunman killed 11 people. The president issued an executive order seeking to bolster background checks on firearms buyers and directed relevant federal departments to ensure they are enforcing gun legislation Biden signed into law last year.
The president and congressional Republicans are currently wrangling over Biden’s budget proposal, which the GOP says does not do enough to reduce the deficit.
Some Republicans have called for various agencies within the Department of Justice to be pared back or defunded. They have accused the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the DOJ against conservatives. At last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) demanded multiple departments be eliminated.
“We either get this government back on our side or we defund and get rid of abolish the FBI, CDC, ATF, DOJ, every last one of ’em if they do not come to heel,” Gaetz said as the crowd cheered raucously. “And I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”
Biden hit back at the idea on Tuesday.
“Last week, I laid out in my budget that we invest more in safer communities and expand access to mental health services for those affected by gun violence,” Biden said. “Congressional Republicans should pass my budget instead of calling for cuts in these services or defunding the police or abolishing the FBI as we hear from our MAGA Republican friends.”
