WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pressed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel to reverse course on their deprioritization of domestic terrorism prevention efforts, which leaves our nation less secure and Americans less safe.
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Durbin began by condemning recent actions, writing: “I write to strongly object to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) recent diversion of agency resources and institutional focus away from domestic terrorism prevention efforts.”
The FBI has reassigned staff from the Domestic Terrorism Operations Section (DTOS), which provides operational support to all 55 FBI field offices in investigating domestic terrorism threats, and is contemplating disbanding it entirely. DHS has dismantled a national database used to help curb domestic terrorism and hate crimes, as well as gutted funding for key domestic terrorism prevention programs that help support community groups and law enforcement agencies.
Durbin outlined the vulnerabilities exacerbated by the changes, writing: “Taken together, these moves represent a broad institutional pullback from confronting the full scope of domestic terrorism threats at a time when experts continue to warn about intensifying danger, and the data points to the rising threat of attacks motivated by anti-government ideologies.”
Violent extremists have committed numerous ideologically-driven or politically motivated attacks over the last decade, including the 2025 New Orleans Bourbon Street Attack, the 2022 mass shooting at a Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, New York, and high-profile incidents of political violence like the two attempted assassination attempts on then-candidate Donald Trump.
The FBI reported a 357 percent increase in domestic terrorism investigations between 2013 and 2021—from 1,981 to 9,049 cases. Thirty-five percent of domestic terrorism incidents committed by individuals during that period were committed by Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists (RMVEs) and 32 percent by Anti-Government/Anti-Authority Violent Extremists; RMVEs also committed the most lethal attacks from 2010 through 2021. From 2016 to 2023, 49 percent of attacks and plots targeting the government were inspired by “partisan political views.”
Durbin concluded with a condemnation of political violence and recent efforts by the Trump Administration to divert resources to combat domestic terrorism, before making a series of information requests, writing: “Political violence, no matter the ideological motivation, is unacceptable. It is imperative that both the Administration and Congress continue to address the underlying causes for domestic terrorism and adapt to the rapidly evolving trends and motivating factors inspiring extremists. A diversion of domestic-terrorism focused resources without a clear plan from the Administration on how to combat this evolving threat makes Americans safe. I strongly urge you to put the safety of the American people first, reverse these resource reallocations, and reaffirm the Administration’s commitment to tackling domestic violent extremism with the full force and attention this significant threat demands.”
Durbin has been working to address the growing threat of domestic violent extremist groups and individuals (DVEs), including racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists and violent white supremacists, for years. Durbin first held a hearing on the domestic terrorism threat in 2012, after a white supremacist murdered seven Sikh worshipers in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. In March 2021, Durbin held his first oversight hearing as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee on domestic terrorism and FBI oversight, and as Chair held several more hearings on domestic terrorism, political violence, and hate crimes.
Full text of the letter to Secretary Noem and Director Patel is available here.
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