Many conservatives have reacted positively to the budget outline that President Donald Trump presented to Congress late last week.

Yet in a surprising move, FBI Director Kash Patel broke with Trump by objecting to one of the outline's proposed cuts. 

Patel says FBI needs an additional $1 billion

According to the Washington Examiner, Patel argued during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday that the FBI will need roughly a billion more dollars than what the budget outline offers.

That fact was seized upon by Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who argued that putting the FBI on a $10 billion operating budget "quite literally would defund law enforcement."

The Examiner noted that DeLauro, who serves as the House Appropriations Committee's ranking Democrat, repeatedly pressed Patel on what jobs he would need to eliminate.

"We have not looked at [what jobs] to cut," Patel said in response. "We are focusing our energies on how not to have them cut by coming here and highlighting to you that we can’t do the mission on those 2011 budget levels."

Patel says he will only fire those who "violate ethical guidelines or break the law"

The congresswoman apparently grew frustrated with Patel, stating, "This is your budget. You have to have some idea of what you want to fund or not fund."

However, Patel insisted that he does not plan on reducing staff numbers at the FBI and will only fire those who "violate ethical guidelines or break the law."

The FBI director also spoke with lawmakers about his decision to move a number of personnel out of the Washington, D.C. area.

"In one of my first actions as director, I gave my agents and intel analysts an opportunity to go out and serve in the field, and many of those individuals took that opportunity and have requested to be redeployed into the field, into every one of your states across this country," Patel declared.

Budget proposal endorsed by House Freedom Caucus

Meanwhile, the New York Post noted that Trump's budget proposal includes significant cuts to nondiscretionary domestic spending while boosting funds for the military.

It was quickly embraced by members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which endorsed it in a social media post last Friday.

This is how you break the Swamp. Passing MAGA Republican priorities in reconciliation with Republican votes — ending Democrats’s leverage against the President in appropriations to fund the Left’s wasteful, woke and weaponized bureaucracy.

The FY26 budget is a paradigm shift. https://t.co/wOKbZhaKLC

— House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) May 2, 2025

"This is how you break the Swamp. Passing MAGA Republican priorities in reconciliation with Republican votes — ending Democrats' leverage against the President in appropriations to fund the Left’s wasteful, woke and weaponized bureaucracy," it declared before adding that the document represents "a paradigm shift."