Law enforcement

The FBI’s Role in National Security

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the U.S. government’s main law-enforcement and domestic intelligence agency. Its writ has steadily expanded in recent decades, particularly its role as a counterterrorism force after the September 11, 2001, attacks.  

The Justice Department’s top strategic goal is to “prevent terrorism,” which is reflected in how the FBI allocates resources among its nearly thirty-five thousand employees; in 2015 the agency had more than twelve thousand employees [PDF] working on counterterrorism and counterintelligence, as well as nearly seven thousand working on intelligence. But the agency still covers a wide range of national security matters, as well as organized crime, white-collar crime, public corruption, and civil-rights violations. Without a legislative charter, the FBI’s mandate has grown over the past century as has federal law. Its priorities and policies are shaped by piecemeal legislation, executive branch directives, and the prerogatives of its own leadership, which have led to charges of overstepping its bounds.