Congress' $1.7 trillion government funding bill includes needed extra money for the Justice Department to prosecute Jan. 6 cases.
WASHINGTON — The $1.7 trillion government funding bill released Tuesday includes extra money for the Justice Department to prosecute Jan. 6 cases. Congress is hoping to pass it this week. The package gives U.S. attorneys a budget of $2.63 billion for the coming fiscal year, a $212.1 million boost above current levels. One reason for the additional money is "to further support prosecutions related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and domestic terrorism cases," according to a summary provided by the House Appropriations Committee. As NBC News reported in October, the department said it was in critical need of additional resources for its investigation into the Capitol attack, with more than a dozen sources familiar with the probe expressing concerns about the resources available for the investigation. The department had requested $34 million from Congress specifically to carry it the investigation. "The cases are unprecedented in scale and [it] is expected to be among the most complex investigations prosecuted by the Department of Justice," DOJ previously told Congress, adding that the funding was "necessary for the continued prosecutions of the growing number of cases related to this breach of the U.S. Capitol that has left the Department with an immense task of finding and charging those responsible for the attacks." As it awaited funding, the Justice Department propped up the sprawling investigation with the help of U.S. attorneys' offices around the country, who have lent federal prosecutors to the effort. One source involved in the Jan. 6 criminal investigation said Tuesday they were "sincerely grateful" for the boost in funding under the omnibus bill. "For reasons that we understand and for many reasons that may manifest only with the passage of time, it's…