Enhancing Cyber Capabilities Joins Other Administration Priorities in DOJ’s FY 2022 Budget

The Department of Justice FY 2022 budget request is $35.3B, a $1.8B increase over the FY 2021 enacted level. The FY 2022 DOJ budget follows suit of a department request typically reflective of the administration’s highest priorities as well as recent events. In particular, the latest request emphasizes increased investments in combatting violent crime and gun violence, improving the criminal justice system, invest in civil rights efforts, and bolster cyber investigations and cybersecurity of DOJ’s systems.

DOJ’s budget largely falls into the following five categories:

Note: figures in parenthesis denote change compared to FY 2021 budget

Source: DOJ FY 2022 Budget Request

The increased investment in State and Local Assistance reflects a $2B boost in state and local law enforcement assistance to support training and assist in pubic safety issues at local jurisdictions. The additional funding also supports responsive measures to address the opioid crisis and to combat human trafficking.

Other key increases and changes throughout DOJ’s FY 2022 budget include:

• $2.6B to reform inequalities in the criminal justice system
  • $410M to the Federal Bureau of Prisons the implement the First Step Act of 2018
  • $100M toward the new Community-Based Alternatives to Youth Incarceration Initiative
  • $40M to expand Improving Juvenile Indigent Defense Program
• $307M to address civil rights efforts, including:
  • Re-establishing and expanding the Office for Access of Justice
  • $20M for the new Training on Racial Profiling Duty to Intervene and De-escalation Program
  • $9M to provide training to Hate Crimes Prevention Training Program
• $151M to strengthen cyber investigations and DOJ cybersecurity
  • $79M for SolarWinds Incident Response and modernize DOJ’s Security Operations Center (SOC)
  • $40M to the FBI to increase unilateral operations with other federal, state, local and international partners
  • $15M to enhance the cyber posture and threat assessment program for FBI data
• $101M to address domestic terrorism, including:
  • $45M at the FBI for domestic terrorism investigations
  • $40M at the U.S. Attorney’s office for additional prosecutors and to modernize the agency’s tech and case management systems
• $107M at the Executive Office for Immigration Review for an additional 100 immigration judges, support staff and associated office space and equipment
• $75M to transfer detainee population in private detention facilities to alternative state and local facilities to discontinue use of private facilities
• $39M for 13 green projects at the Bureau of Prisons to replace aging equipment with energy efficient models
• $26M to hire attorneys to investigate COVID-related fraud
• $14M to provide software and video storage for body worn cameras for federal task force officers across department bureaus and to implement a video management solution at the U.S. Marshals Service to share camera recordings
• $12M in electric vehicles and charging infrastructure

DOJ’s emphasis to improve cyber capabilities carries over into the Department’s FY 2022 IT budget, with a total request of $3.4B, a nearly 11% increase, or $331M over FY 2021 enacted levels.

Investments with the largest increases in the IT budget include:

• $75M for DOJ’s Working Capital Fund ($226M total)
• $28M for the FBI Enterprise Security Operations Center ($101M total)
• $88M for the Justice Management Division’s Cybersecurity Initiatives ($93M total)
• $47M for Bureau of Prisons Security ($62M total)