Federal Agencies Increase Spending on Weapons and Ammunition

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection committed to spending more than $144 million on weapons, ammunition, and related accessories in the first year of President Donald Trump's second term. A February report from the office of Sen.

Adam Schiff stated that the amount was four times higher than ICE's 2024 contracts and double what CBP spent in 2024. The purchases included thousands of rifles and handguns, more than $30 million in ammunition, and $25 million in less-lethal and crowd-control weapons.

La Hoz reported seeing a federal agent wearing a vest marked IRS-CI during an immigration raid. S. marshals, Bureau of Prisons officers, and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives have also been observed working with immigration enforcement.

In 2013, Environmental Protection Agency agents wearing body armor and carrying rifles raided a gold mining operation in Alaska to investigate potential Clean Water Act violations. Sen. Dan Sullivan said the incident showed federal government power creep and introduced legislation to remove the EPA's weapons, though the bill did not pass.

Federal agencies have acquired firearms and protective equipment for years, with some purchases becoming public only when noticed during operations.