The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the top federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The organization operates within the Department of Justice and is a part of the U.S. intelligence apparatus. The FBI reports directly to the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. The FBI Driector is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. The Bureau also acts as a domestic intelligence and security service and is a leading counter-terrorism organization. There are over 200 categories of crimes in which the FBI has jurisdiction. The current FBI director is Christopher Wray, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2018.
The responsibilities of the Bureau extend to many federal crimes, including embezzlement, money laundering, sedition, terrorism, treason, cybercrime, organized crime, extortion, piracy, racketeering, and hijacking. Moreover, The FBI also does background checks and investigates all individuals being considered for employment at the top levels of the federal government, such as the White House.
The Bureau investigates all civil rights violations such as police brutality and racial discrimination and collects evidence in civil rights cases involving the U.S. government. The Bureau's Uniform Crime Reporting program publishes a summary of all criminal activity in the U.S. every year.
The FBI has more than 50 field offices in major cities and more than 400 satellite offices in smaller cities and regions across the United States. Its headquarter is in Washington D.C. at the J. Edgard Hoover Building — named after the Bureau's longest-serving director. More than 10,000 special agents are employed by the FBI to do investigative work and usually serve with the Bureau for 10 years or more. The FBI's domestic and national security efforts are comparable to Russia's FSB and the United Kingdom's MI5. The Bureau has a yearly budget of nearly $10 billion and employs more than 35,000 people.
