Warren, Blumenthal, Goldman, and 27 Members of Congress Urge Agency Watchdogs to Investigate Trump Administration’s Retreat from White-Collar Crime Enforcement

Warren, Blumenthal, Goldman, and 27 Members of Congress Urge Agency Watchdogs to Investigate Trump Administration's Retreat from White-Collar Crime Enforcement

"The safety of American families and the integrity of our financial system depend on restoring law enforcement's capacity to investigate and prosecute white-collar crime rather than simply turning the federal government into an immigration enforcement machine."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Representative Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) led 27 lawmakers in writing to the Inspectors General for the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of State (State), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Postal Service (USPS), and the Office of Tax Administration (TIGTA), asking the watchdogs to investigate the impact of the Trump administration's diversion of law enforcement resources away from white collar and corporate crime and in favor of immigration enforcement.

"The Trump Administration is letting white collar criminals off the hook for all kinds of wrongdoing. Instead of protecting American families from fraud and predatory behavior, the Administration is diverting resources to pursue its inhumane immigration agenda," said Senator Warren. "Nobody is above the law, and the Trump Administration needs to stop treating white collar criminals with kid gloves."

"The Trump Administration's diversion of critical resources and personnel away from white-collar crime undermines our country's ability to combat fraud schemes, market manipulation, and corruption-seriously threatening the security of American families and leaving them vulnerable to predatory practices. These staff and resource diversions exemplify this Administration's reckless decision-making in service of Trump's brutal, ruthless immigration enforcement agenda. I call on the Inspectors General to fulfill their duty as nonpartisan watchdogs and illuminate this Administration's abuse of power," said Senator Blumenthal.

"Trump is letting white collar criminals run rampant without consequences so he can shift law enforcement to violently attack immigrants - the overwhelming majority of whom have no criminal record," said Representative Goldman. "Having 25,000 fewer law enforcement personnel investigating and prosecuting white collar crime enables fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, and other crimes that hurt the American people. Federal Inspectors General must conduct a thorough investigation of the impact of these diversions."

Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) joined in signing the letter, as did Representatives Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), Lou Correa (D-Calif.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Henry Johnson (D-Ga.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Dave Min (D-Calif.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.).

"When white-collar criminal enforcement is neglected, the American public pays the price. Ordinary people are left more vulnerable to fraud schemes, market manipulation, predatory financial practices, and corruption…while the wealthiest bend the rules and exploit a weakened enforcement system that no longer holds them accountable," said the lawmakers.

Since January 2025, the Trump administration has reportedly diverted over 25,000 law enforcement personnel to immigration enforcement. Many of those agents had been dedicated to combating white-collar crimes-including fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, and more.

Those diversions include:

• Nearly one quarter of FBI agents nationwide;
• More than 1,700 IRS Criminal Investigation employees;
• Around 300 State Department Diplomatic Security Service agents;
• More than 90 percent of the Homeland Security Investigations workforce;
• Dozens of career prosecutors from DOJ's Public Integrity Section and National Security Division; and
• Even members of the US Postal Inspection Service.

"Taken together, these moves represent a massive diversion of specialized law-enforcement talent away from criminal financial investigations and prosecutions and toward civil immigration enforcement," wrote the lawmakers.

Several agencies are experiencing the consequences of these diversions. For example, the mass reassignment of HSI agents to immigration removal operations means that "critical threats could go uninvestigated." Diverting State Department resources to ICE weakens cross-border investigations into corruption, fraud, and international financial crimes. The diversion of FBI and DOJ personnel from white-collar units has caused delays and the deprioritization of complex financial crime cases such as public corruption, corporate fraud, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prosecutions.

These diversions "undermin[e] the federal government's ability to hold powerful actors accountable," said the lawmakers.

In 2024 alone, for example, the IRS Criminal Investigations team helped recover more than $9 billion in fraudulent proceedings-acting on a budget of just $800 million. It's unclear how the diversions are affecting agencies' ability to investigate fraud, but the moves remove the federal government's dedicated team to tackle white-collar crime.

"In practice, these diversions also undermine deterrence: when white-collar criminals believe that federal enforcement units lack the resources or continuity to pursue long-term cases, they may become more emboldened to take risks that endanger markets, taxpayers, and public institutions," wrote the lawmakers.

"The safety of American families and the integrity of our financial system depend on restoring law enforcement's capacity to investigate and prosecute white-collar crime rather than simply turning the federal government into an immigration enforcement machine," the lawmakers concluded.

The lawmakers asked the IGs to provide the information below as a part of their investigation:

• A breakdown of how many law enforcement personnel have been reassigned from each agency for immigration enforcement;
• A breakdown of how many white-collar crimes cases (including but not limited to financial fraud, corruption, FCPA, and money-laundering cases) have been opened, closed, or suspended since the start of the second Trump administration;
• Any internal assessments conducted by agencies to determine the impacts of diverting law enforcement resources; and
• An accounting of complaints or whistleblower disclosures received about these diversions;
• A list of the safeguards that exist to ensure each agency still meets its statutory white-collar criminal investigative obligations despite these diversions.

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