Assistant Attorney General Tony West of the Civil Division came before a Senate appropriations panel on Tuesday to make his case for a bigger budget to fight health care fraud in the coming years, saying current funding levels would limit DOJ’s ability to fight the crime in the future.

In its fiscal year 2012 funding proposal, the DOJ requests $283.4 million to fight health care fraud, amounting to a 22 percent increase from the funding Congress approved through a continuing resolution for fiscal 2011. The budget request comes only a few weeks after the DOJ announced the recovery of $4 billion from individuals who tried to defraud Medicare and Medicaid. The recovery was the biggest annual sum ever collected from Medicare and Medicaid fraudsters.

Tony West (Andrew Ramonas/Main Justice)

The DOJ says it would use the extra funds in its fiscal 2012 request to bolster the efforts of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team, a top Obama administration initiative that brings together the Justice Department, Health and Human Services, and other government agencies.

Increased funding for HEAT would bring Medicare Fraud Strike Force Enforcement Action Teams to 13 more locations, according to the DOJ. The teams of federal, state and local authorities currently are deployed in seven locations to fight Medicare fraud. The DOJ also says it would use its extra money to strengthen its enforcement of the False Claims Act.

West said many of the case health care fraud cases handled by the DOJ involved “well-funded adversaries.” The Assistant Attorney General said the DOJ needed to  invest in health care fraud enforcement in order to effectively handle these defendants.

“To the extent that we have a CR and we’re unable to expand our efforts, I think that has an impact,” West said. “To the extent that we have a CR and we can’t expand to 20 cities for our strike force efforts, which have been amazingly successful, and we have to stay in seven cities, that has an impact as well.”

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate appropriations panel, and Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the subcommittee, agreed that more must be done to stop health care fraud.

“One thing everyone agrees on is that anti-fraud efforts have not begun to keep pace with the scope of the problem,” Harkin said.

Health care fraud, anti-terrorism and Indian Country crime top Justice Department funding priorities in a $28.2 billion budget request for fiscal 2012, with the big loser being wireless communications for law enforcement.

As Congress struggles to slash the deficit – with conservative lawmakers demanding immediate cuts of up to $100 billion from the government’s discretionary spending  - the Barack Obama administration is asking for a 2 percent increase for the Department of Justice over the levels in a 2011 continuing resolution. If approved, the increase would bring 2,905 new DOJ positions.

For national securities matters, the fiscal 2012 budget request allocates about $1.25 billion, a 10 percent increase from the funding in the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution. A majority of any new resources are slated for the FBI, with a focus on combating cyber intrusions and improving surveillance capabilities. Funding for the National Security Division itself, however, would stay essentially flat at around $87.9 million.

The administration would continue its strong emphasis on crime in American Indian communities. The budget asks for $424.4 million for Indian Country public safety initiatives, a 29 percent increase from the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution. A significant amount of the funds would go toward public safety grants for tribal programs and additional FBI agents for tribal matters. The popular Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program budget includes $42 million to hire law enforcement officers for tribal communities.

DOJ asks in the proposed budget for $283.4 million to combat health care fraud, a 22 percent increase from the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution. In fiscal 2010, the DOJ handled more than 2,000 criminal and civil health care fraud investigations and recovered $4 billion from individuals who tried to defraud Medicare and Medicaid.

The budget proposal also includes $6.8 billion for the Bureau of Prisons, increasing the agency’s funding from the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution by 10 percent. The DOJ would use most of the extra resources to hire more prison personnel and activate prisons for use, including a Thomson, Ill., correctional facility slated for Guantanamo Bay detainees.

“This budget is going to strengthen national security, preserve the Department’s traditional missions, maintain prisons and detention operations and assist our state, local and tribal law enforcement partners,” Deputy Attorney General James Cole told reporters on Monday at DOJ headquarters.

But, according to a Main Justice analysis of DOJ accounts listed in the budget request, the biggest increase in percentage terms is for witness fees and expenses. The budget proposal has $270 million for the account, a 60 percent increase from the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution.

The DOJ previously asked for $270 million in its fiscal 2011 budget proposal to pay for witness fees and expenses. The overall funding has been at about $168 million since 2006, with DOJ using carry-over balances and direct appropriations to cover rising costs. The carry-over balances, which fund a large amount of the expert witness expenses, are “no longer sufficient to sustain current activity,” according to the DOJ Budget and Performance Summary for fiscal 2012.

The budget also requests $1.3 billion in non-discretionary funds for the Assets Forfeiture Fund, a 15 percent increase from the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution and the second biggest in percentage terms, according to the Main Justice analysis of DOJ accounts. In fiscal 2010, U.S. Attorneys brought in $6.7 billion from actions in civil and criminal cases, setting a record for the largest financial collection in DOJ history.

But the DOJ proposed budget also includes some cuts.

In the budget request, the funding for law enforcement wireless communication is cut to $102.8 million, a 50 percent decrease and the biggest in percentage terms from the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution, according to the Main Justice analysis of DOJ accounts. The reduction would put a hold on new development for the communication tools used by the DOJ law enforcement agencies, according to the DOJ.

The proposed budget also asks to reduce the funding for the National Drug Intelligence Center to $25 million, a 43 percent decrease and the second largest in percentage terms from the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution, according to the Main Justice analysis of DOJ accounts. The cuts target administrative and management expenses at the clearinghouse for domestic drug intelligence and are intended to focus the center’s efforts on fulfilling document and computer exploitation requests in significant law enforcement operations and probes, according to the DOJ.

In the budget request, Justice Information Sharing Technology gets $88.2 million, a 39 percent decrease and the third largest in percentage terms from the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution, according to the Main Justice analysis of DOJ accounts. The reductions for the account, which funds DOJ systems that electronically store and transmit data, are intended to make it more efficient and increase its focus on critical needs, according to the DOJ. In the fiscal 2011 budget request, the DOJ looked to double the funding for the account.

The DOJ also is looking to cut funding for grants to state, local and tribal law enforcement and safety programs to $3 billion, a 16 percent decrease from the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution. The cut would scrap grant earmarks from members of Congress and reduce funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which gives money to state and local governments that incarcerate criminal aliens.

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Mobile Enforcement Teams are also on the chopping block in the proposed budget. The elimination of the teams that help local law enforcement agencies with drug investigations would save the DOJ $39.1 million.

The popular Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program is slated for a 14.4 percent reduction, to $709.8 million. However, much of the COPS budget is slated to be transfered to other DOJ programs, while funding for officers on the street is protected.

Cole said the cuts were made in an effort to create a “fiscally responsible” budget.

“I think you need to understand that we had to make some tough choices in order to enhance certain of our essential functions that we at the Department have to maintain,” Cole said. “But we did so in a way that doesn’t sacrifice our investment in the future, and it’s an investment that we are confident can provide further deficit reductions in the future as we achieve some of these programs.”

NEW YORK — A top Justice Department official on Saturday said the outlook is bleak for U.S. Attorneys looking to have more funds at their disposal in the next fiscal year.

H. Marshall Jarrett (photo by Andrew Ramonas / Main Justice)

Director H. Marshall Jarrett of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys told members of the National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys that DOJ officials anticipate “very, very tight times” when President Barack Obama releases his proposed budget for fiscal 2012 in the coming months.

“The budget picture looks very, very tight and very austere, and depending on how the election turns out, [it] can even get worse or more austere,” Jarrett said, who appeared to hint at the potential effect of a Republican majority in the House or Senate.

U.S. Attorneys currently have $1.9 billion in funds under the fiscal 2010 budget. The DOJ requested $2 billion for fiscal 2011.

Congress has yet to pass the bill that includes the DOJ budget for fiscal 2011, which began this month. The legislative branch in September approved a continuing resolution that keeps the government running under the fiscal 2010 budget.

For more coverage of the 2010 National Association of Former U.S. Attorney’s conference in New York, click here.

FBI Director Robert Mueller said Thursday that delays in a massive overhaul of the bureau’s case management system were routine and he assured senators that the $305 million project would not become a boondoggle.

FBI Director Robert Mueller (file photo by Ryan J. Reilly / Main Justice)

Mueller’s decision to suspend work on portions of the program, known as Sentinel, was based on third-party reviews that uncovered “coding defects,” he told members of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the FBI budget.

The revelation last month of delays in the project’s second of four phases recalled the collapse of an earlier incarnation of the case management system, at a cost of about $100 million.

“Is this just a normal delay … or are we on the way to boondoggle?” asked Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice and science Appropriations Subcommittee.

Mueller described the setback as “minor” and said bumps were to be expected in a project of this magnitude. The phased approach, he added, has allowed the bureau to take advantage of the upgrades as they are completed and to monitor the project more closely.

In this instance, Mueller said, the last segment of the second phase “did not meet our expectations.”

The technical problems could lead to more than $30 million in cost overruns in the program, which is contracted to Lockheed Martin, reported The New York Times. Mueller acknowledged the delay would push the date of completion into 2011.

The bureau’s efforts to upgrade its technology have raised larger questions about its agility in national security and traditional law enforcement matters. Mueller told Mikulski the bureau had made vast gains since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when many agents could not send or receive e-mail messages.

For instance, Mueller said, the bureau now uses more than 26,000 Blackberry devices.

Congress handed out fewer earmarks for Justice Department programs this year than it did in the previous two years, according to an Office of Management and Budget analysis released Monday.

The DOJ earmarks for fiscal 2010 totaled about 4 percent less than the fiscal 2009 earmarks and about 26 percent less than the earmarks for fiscal 2008, according to the report. The analysis  includes only funding provided by Congress through the regular appropriations measures and does not include money allocated to the programs through the economic stimulus bill enacted early in 2009.

Congress appropriated about $470 million in earmarks for DOJ programs in fiscal 2010. All of the earmarked money was directed toward the Office of Justice Programs, which handles grants for state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.

In fiscal 2009, the DOJ received about $489 million in earmarks, again with all of the money going to the OJP. The year before that, DOJ received about $639 million in earmarks for Justice Department programs, with all but about $3 million directed to the OJP.

The number of earmarks for DOJ programs rose by 24 to 1,312 in fiscal 2010, up from 1,288 the previous year. In fiscal 2008, the DOJ received 1,512 program earmarks.

An interactive chart on the earmarks can be found here.

Overall, money earmarked for executive branch agencies fell by 27 percent to $11.1 billion in fiscal 2010, according to the OMB analysis, down from the $15.3 billion in fiscal 2009. The total number of earmarks dropped by 17 percent to nearly 9,200 in fiscal 2010, up from more than 11,100 the previous year.

“By any measure, the reductions we have seen this fiscal year are welcome, but we cannot rest on these laurels,” OMB Director Peter Orszag wrote in a blog post. “Dollars must not be wasted on programs without merit or proven efficacy. That is why the Administration’s position on earmarks begins with a simple set of principles: earmarks must have a legitimate and worthy public purpose; sponsors of earmarks should be accountable for them; earmark requests should be transparent; and any earmark for a for-profit private company should be subject to the same competitive bidding requirements as other federal contracts.”

For fiscal 2011, the DOJ has requested $3.1 billion for OJP — 2 percent less than the fiscal 2010 enacted funding.

The budget request for the OJP was reduced by about $62.4 million because it was “heavily earmarked,” according to the OJP fiscal 2011 budget summary.

House and Senate Judiciary committee leaders are generally supportive of the fiscal 2011 Justice Department budget request, but expressed some concern over funding for state, local and tribal law enforcement grant programs, according to annual letters outlining the panels’ views on the president’s budget.

The letter from the House Judiciary Committee to the House Budget Committee was endorsed by Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) and ranking member Lamar Smith (R-Texas). The Senate Judiciary Committee’s letter to the Senate Budget panel was signed only by Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) A spokesman for Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the panel, couldn’t immediately ascertain whether the senator drafted his own letter.

Congressional committees are required by law to submit a letter to the Budget Committee in their chamber detailing their “views and estimates” of how president’s annual budget request deals with the spending needs for federal government programs under their jurisdiction. The letters from the committees are supposed to be used to help the budget panels draw up their annual congressional spending and taxing blueprint — the congressional budget resolution. The letters are advisory, but they do provide information about the priorities of the committees that authorize the programs.

Here are DOJ funding requests that drew some concern from the committees:

• John R. Justice Loan Repayment Program
  • The House Judiciary Committee wants the student loan repayment program for prosecutors and public defenders to be funded at an “appropriate level.” The DOJ didn’t request any money for the program, which received $10 million in fiscal 2010.
• Office on Violence Against Women
  • The House Judiciary Committee wants $683 million for the office. The DOJ request calls for $461 million.
  • Leahy wants $225 million for the Services. Training. Officers. Prosecutors. grant program to combat violence against women. The DOJ requests $187.5 million for STOP.
  • Leahy wants $75 million for Grants to Encourage Arrest and Enforce Protection Orders. The DOJ request calls for $47.5 million.
  • Leahy wants $50 million for the Sexual Assault Services Program for domestic violence survivors. The DOJ request calls for $30 million.
  • Leahy wants $40 million for the Transitional Housing Program for domestic violence survivors. The DOJ request calls for $25 million.
  • Leahy wants $55 million for Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Grants. The DOJ request calls for $41 million.
• Juvenile Justice
  • The House Judiciary Committee and Leahy want $350 million for Juvenile Justice Accountability Block Grants to help states to build up their juvenile justice programs. The DOJ requested $40 million.
  • Leahy wants $120 million for Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Block Grants. The DOJ requested $62 million.
  • Leahy wants $100 million for Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Formula Grants. The DOJ requested $72 million.
• Project ChildSafe
  • The House Judiciary Committee wants the national firearm safety education program to be funded at an “appropriate level.” The DOJ didn’t request any money for the program for fiscal 2011.
• State Criminal Alien Assistance Program
  • The House Judiciary Committee wants $950 million for the program, which gives money to state and local governments that incarcerate criminal aliens. The DOJ request calls for $330 million.
• DNA Initiatives
  • The House Judiciary Committee and Leahy want more than $300 million for programs to eliminate the backlog of DNA evidence awaiting lab tests. The DOJ request calls for $150 million.
• Community Oriented Policing Services
  • Leahy wants $1.047 billion for the COPS grant program to help state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies. The DOJ request calls for $730.3 million.
• Bulletproof Vest Partnership
  • Leahy wants $50 million for the bulletproof vest grant program. The DOJ request calls for $30 million.
• Second Chance Act programs
  • Leahy wants $165 million for the program that helps prisoners  become successful members of their communities. The DOJ request calls for $100 million.
• Drug Courts
  • Leahy wants $70 million for the program that helps communities provide incentives for low-level drug offenders to obtain treatment. The DOJ request calls for $45 million.
• Mental Health Courts
  • The House Judiciary Committee and Leahy want $50 million for the program that helps mentally ill people obtain treatment. The DOJ request calls for $12 million.
• National Instant Criminal Check System
  • Leahy wants $250 million for the program, which identifies people who are prohibited from receiving firearms under federal law. The DOJ request calls for $10 million.
• Regional Information Sharing System
  • Leahy wants $45 million for the program which facilitates information sharing and communication between law enforcement agencies. The DOJ request calls for $9 million.

Read more detailed information from the DOJ about its budget request for the Office on Violence Against Women here, COPS here and other grant programs here.

The Justice Department is looking to give its biggest boost in funding for fiscal 2011 to technology improvements, according to a Main Justice analysis of the department’s fiscal 2011 budget request.

The fiscal 2011 budget request calls for the Justice Information Sharing Technology account to receive more than double the amount of funds than it received in fiscal 2010. The increase of almost $92 million would be used to improve five information systems, which allow the DOJ to electronically store and transmit data. The Justice Information Sharing Technology account received $88.3 million in fiscal 2010.

“For 2011, the focus will be on prioritization of [information technology] improvements in order to maximize every dollar available,” the Justice Management Division budget staff wrote in the fiscal 2o11 “Budget and Performance Summary.” “This includes providing the necessary resources needed to maintain existing systems … and to ensure the funding is sufficient to address continuing the implementation of new systems.”

The information systems are the:

• Unified Financial Management System, which handles financial business transactions across the DOJ.
  • FY 2011 requested increase: $42.1 million
• Litigation Case Management System, which warehouses DOJ data.
  • FY 2011 requested increase: $23.2 million
• Justice Consolidated Office Network, which handles the DOJ’s electronic communications and other computerized services.
  • FY 2011 requested increase: $15 million
• Joint Automated Booking System, which handles information on incarcerated individuals.
  • FY 2011 requested increase: $6 million
• Justice Consolidated Office Network-Secret/Top Secret, which allows DOJ staffers to communicate about secret and top secret information.
  • FY 2011 requested increase: $4.3 million

Read the DOJ justification for the Justice Information Sharing Technology request here. More on who’s up and who’s down in DOJ’s budget request is here.

The Justice Department is putting emphasis on funding for technology improvements, its general administration and witnesses, according to a Main Justice analysis of the department’s fiscal 2011 budget request.

President Obama sent his government-wide budget proposal to Congress on Feb. 1.

In percentage terms, the biggest requested increase is for the Justice Information Sharing Technology account. The DOJ is looking to more than double its funding for the account, which funds DOJ systems that electronically store and transmit data. The second and third biggest requested increased, again in percentage terms, are for general administration and witness fees and expenses.

The DOJ is calling for an increase of more than 88 percent for its general administration, which includes the office of the Attorney General and senior DOJ policy officials. The general administration request of $233.3 million would be used to bolster DOJ efforts to fight terrorism, Indian country crime and handle the influx of Office of Professional Responsibility probes opened at the request of Congress.

The witness fees and expenses account would receive a better than 6o percent increase in the fiscal 2011 budget request. The DOJ is asking for more than $250 million in fiscal 2011 to replenish a dwindling pool of carry-over balances for witness fees and expenses and to deal with an anticipated increase in the demand for witnesses.

The key DOJ accounts that would be cut in fiscal 2011 include the Office of Justice Programs and Community Oriented Policing Services, two DOJ arms that handle justice and law enforcement grants for state, local and tribal agencies.

The budget request for OJP and COPS was reduced by about $160 million because they were “heavily earmarked,” according to the DOJ fiscal 2o11 “Budget and Performance Summary.” Members of Congress regularly request millions of dollars for justice and law enforcement programs in their districts.

The key DOJ accounts are listed below, ranked in order of the proposed percentage increase in the fiscal 2011 budget request. Read the DOJ justifications for the requests here.

This post has been corrected from an earlier version.

The Justice Department today released plans aimed at strengthening its efforts to fight crime in American Indian tribal lands.

The DOJ intends to make the Office of Tribal Justice a separate component within the Justice Department and will establish a “Tribal Nations Leadership Council” to help improve collaboration and communication between American Indian leaders and Justice Department officials, according to a DOJ memo. Currently the office is under the purview of the Deputy Attorney General, but is  not a permanent entity with the Justice Department structure.

In addition, U.S. Attorneys who have American Indian reservations in their districts and DOJ officials who handle tribal grants will be required to meet with tribal leaders, the memo said. DOJ will also establish an American Indian task force to create guidance and strategies for prosecutions of crimes of violence against women in Indian country, according to the memo.

“The Justice Department embraces this responsibility and the principles of tribal sovereignty and Indian self-determination,” the memo said. “The Department, at all levels, is committed to developing a comprehensive communication and coordination policy with tribes that is predicated on robust tribal input.”

The plans, which were sent to Office of Management and Budget on Jan. 27, will be financed through existing DOJ funds, according to a Justice Department spokeswoman. The department received more than $237 million in its fiscal 2010 budget for Indian country prosecutions and criminal investigations. The department has also made millions of dollars in grant money available to America Indian tribes, especially for programs that fight violence against women.

The proposed fiscal 2011 DOJ budget includes nearly $450 million to fund initiatives in American Indian tribal lands. The budget request also included $1.8 million for expanding the Office of Tribal Justice, according to the spokeswoman.

The Office of Tribal Justice was created under a federal statute in 1995, but exists at the discretion of the Attorney General. The Office of Tribal Justice serves as the department’s point of contact with American Indian tribes on justice issues.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee approved legislation last September would give the Office of Tribal Justice a presidentially appointed head. The full Senate has yet to act on the bill.

The plans are the latest in a series of Justice Department initiatives to fight Indian country crime, which former Deputy Attorney General David Ogden said last month has hit “unacceptable levels” and is diminishing the quality of life for American Indians.

Last month, the DOJ announced a series of new Indian Country policies in an effort to combat the high level of crime there. Last year, Attorney General Eric Holder and top DOJ brass held several meetings with tribal leaders as part of a listening tour through Indian country.

South Dakota U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson, chairman of the American Indian issues subcommittee of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys, told Main Justice that the DOJ has taken great strides in addressing American Indian concerns.

“Tribal leaders have been heard in the past, but they haven’t been listened to,” Johnson said. He added: “[DOJ officials] have been listening to what tribal leaders have been telling us.”

The Justice Department plans to trim its $29.2 billion proposed 2011 budget by cutting spending on travel, officials announced today.

The DOJ would save about $20 million by tightening its belt on travel expenses and improving management efficiency, according to budget documents. The upshot: officials will likely take fewer trips and spend a shorter amount of time away on official business to save money, according to a DOJ spokesperson.

The fiscal year 2011 budget request calls for $450 million for travel expenses. The DOJ requested the cut because travel expenses increased faster than inflation, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

“We have looked at the Department’s travel practices and we believe we can travel more effectively and efficiently,” Assistant Attorney General for Administration Lee Lofthus told reporters today.

Taking the biggest hit in absolute terms is the 33,000-employee FBI, which is slated for a $10.3 million travel budget cut.  The 3-person Office of Dispute Resolution, which facilitates the use of mediation in disputes involving the federal government, will have to squeeze $1,000 from its travel budget.

Here’s the breakdown on the estimated savings, from highest to lowest amounts per agency:

• FBI: $10.3 million
• U.S. Marshals Service: $2.6 million
• Drug Enforcement Administration: $2.1 million
• Bureau of Prisons: $1.5 million
• U.S. Attorneys: $1.2 million
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms: $907,000
• Civil Division: $341,000
• National Security Division: $216,000
• Criminal Division: $210,000
• Executive Office for Immigration Review: $173,000
• Office of Inspector General: $173,000
• Civil Rights Division: $172,000
• Environment and Natural Resources Division: $130,000
• Tax Division: $125,000
• General Administration: $86,000
• Community Relations Service: $43,000
• National Drug Intelligence Center: $43,000
• INTERPOL Washington: $36,000
• Office of the Solicitor General: $13,000
• Office of Legal Counsel: $9,000
• Office of Dispute Resolution: $1,000