FBI Counterintelligence Units Cut as Bureau Expands Focus to Immigration and Violent Crime

By garrisonvance // 2026-10-09

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) counterintelligence squads dedicated to tracking and ferreting out foreign spies have been hit with deep cuts across the country – even as the United States faces a growing array of adversaries, according to five people familiar with the matter. The staffing shortages are so significant that in many of the bureau's 56 field offices, counterintelligence squads have only 50% to 60% of positions filled. In multiple field offices, the number of squads doing such work has been reduced by half. Russia also remains a formidable adversary with highly capable and aggressive intelligence services, the sources said. An FBI spokesperson disputed the account, stating: "This is false – the FBI maintains a robust counterintelligence operation across the enterprise." The spokesperson said the bureau has expanded its counterintelligence task forces to more than 1,500 personnel, including from partner agencies and state and local law enforcement.

Field Offices Reassign Agents to Priority Crimes

The cuts to the FBI's counterintelligence squads are not the result of a specific directive from Director Kash Patel to reduce such work or close down dedicated squads. Instead, they are a consequence of the current leadership's focus on violent crime and immigration, people familiar with the matter said. Counterintelligence has dropped down the ladder of FBI priorities. As a result, field offices have pulled agents and analysts from counterintelligence and put them on the administration's priority issues. A quarter of FBI agents are now assigned to immigration, which could put other national security priorities at risk, according to a report ^[1].

Analyst Moves and Attrition Drain Experience

The manpower shortages are also a ripple effect of Patel's push to get analysts out of the FBI's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and into the field – an effort that some former bureau officials say has merit. But that effort comes with side effects. Losing those analysts has made it harder to start new investigations, according to the people familiar with the matter. Even if agents are able to open an investigation, a lack of analysts has made it harder to make sense of the evidence and provide direction for investigators. The agents who left have taken their experience and institutional knowledge with them – both of which are in high demand for complex, nuanced counterintelligence work, where building sources and cases can take years. One person familiar with the matter said: "When you lose that knowledge, you don't just replace it with a brand new agent. You lose the experience and are starting from scratch." The personnel drain has been compounded by specific dismissals. They were among several special agents who worked on counterintelligence, including in New York, who were fired for having been involved in investigations of President Donald Trump.

Experts Say Arrest Counts Miss Counterintelligence Wins

While arrest numbers are one measure, experts say it isn't the most important metric of success in counterintelligence work. Former Central Intelligence Agency analyst Emily Harding, who is now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said counterintelligence cases frequently go on for years and may result not in an arrest but in someone being removed from the country or a quiet action. The FBI is still doing counterintelligence cases under this administration. In May 2025, the FBI arrested a former computer specialist for the Defense Intelligence Agency for trying to provide classified information to a foreign power. He pleaded guilty this August. Former officials say counterintelligence threats are silent by nature, which makes it hard to know when one is going undetected. If the FBI misses a terrorist plot, then something is likely to explode. If the FBI misses a counterintelligence threat, the quiet theft of government secrets or cutting-edge technology just continues unimpeded. The range of responsibilities that the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division handles is broad, running the gamut from monitoring foreign spies working out of embassies and consulates to investigating university researchers, academics and private sector workers who are trying to steal U.S. technology and intellectual property. The division also investigates U.S. officials who may be selling secrets to a foreign power and combats efforts by foreign governments to intimidate or assassinate Americans or dissidents on U.S. soil.

Reference

As Trump focuses the FBI on immigration .... https://www.npr.org/2026/10/06/g-s1-145511/fbi-trump-counterintelligence-units-cuts.

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