Department of Justice

The Department of Justice's (DOJ) mission is to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; ensure public safety against threats; provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.

• The department is composed of 40 component agencies with wide-ranging missions.
• For fiscal year 2009, the department requested about $25.4 billion to implement its various missions and programs, including about $5 billion for preventing terrorism and promoting national security and about $12 billion for crime reduction and civil and constitutional rights enforcement.
• Following the September 11, 2001, attacks (9/11), the department expanded its activities and placed higher priority on its missions to combat terrorism and provide for homeland security. It has been allocated new resources and has redirected other funding to help implement these missions.
• DOJ has also had to continue to manage and implement its more traditional law enforcement missions, including efforts to combat organized crime and gangs, drugs and weapons trafficking, and white-collar and violent crime, along with its goals of protecting privacy and civil liberties.
• Adjusting to its new counterterrorism missions has posed challenges to the department and its component agencies in balancing competing resource needs and in providing appropriate management and oversight of major programs. For example, DOJ has had to balance among its priorities for combating terrorism and crime, shifting resources from traditional law enforcement areas to counterterrorism, as well as to balance privacy and civil liberties protections with implementation of new intelligence tools and processes.
• Among the department’s component agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has faced challenges in shifting its focus and resources toward counterterrorism, including realigning staff; improving information collection, analysis and sharing capabilities; and transforming its organizational culture.
• The department also faces challenges in managing and overseeing major programs, including the efficient and effective management and provision of prisoner detention and re-entry programs and ensuring the effectiveness of grant programs used to support research as well as state and local law enforcement efforts, among other things.