June 17, 2016 11:17AM 

# Funding the FBI 

By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) 

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On Fox News last night, Megyn Kelly agreed with her guest James Kallstrom that the FBI needs a larger budget. The horrific attack in Orlando has raised the issue of whether the FBI has sufficient resources to investigate potential terrorists.

I don’t know how large the FBI budget should be. The agency does fill a lot of crucial roles, including tackling never-ending [corruption](https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2010/march/corruption_032610) in federal, state, and local governments.

But I do know that the FBI has not been starved; its budget has grown rapidly. The chart, [from Down​siz​ing​Gov​ern​ment​.org](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/charts/), shows that FBI spending in constant 2016 dollars has more than tripled since 1990, from $2.7 billion to $9.1 billion.

![Media Name: fbi.png](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/fbi.png?itok=1jDeIjHk) 

##### Related Tags 

[Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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