The Biden administration needs $34 million more to bring the Jan. 6 rioters to justice, but it’s not clear Congress will grant that request in a funding bill planned for December. If it fails to do so before the new year, a potential Republican-led House could refuse to provide funds, NBC News reports. The future of the sprawling federal criminal investigation into the thousands of rioters who stormed the building in support of then-President Trump rests largely in the hands of congressional appropriators who craft funding bills to keep the government running.
The Justice Department has called Jan. 6 “the most wide-ranging investigation” in its history, with more than 870 arrests so far. For 21 months, the investigation, led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, has largely been propped up with help from 93 federal prosecutors' offices from across the U.S. who are volunteering personnel. The work is far from over and the department needs more resources to move full-speed ahead. Online sleuths have identified hundreds of additional Jan. 6 rioters who have not yet been arrested; one of the sleuths who is closely tracking the Justice Department’s caseload noted that the number of outstanding cases is going down, with sentences now outpacing new arrests, which have slowed to roughly four per week since the beginning of 2022. Congress has until Dec. 16 to strike a funding agreement and negotiators plan to return after the Nov. 8 election to try to hash out a full-year deal.