U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Department of Justice (DOJ) is on “high alert” following U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear program over the weekend.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), during a House Appropriations Committee meeting on Monday, asked Bondi about the number of Iranian nationals who may have entered the United States illegally.
“Over 1,000 have entered our country, and I can tell you we are on high alert and everyone is looking at that very closely,” Bondi said.
The attorney general suggested the FBI is on guard against possible Iranian sleeper cells located inside the United States, connecting those cells with Iranian nationals who entered the United States across the U.S.–Mexico border during the Biden administration.
“When the DOJ submitted their budget, the United States was a nation at peace, and now we’re a nation at war,” Gonzales said.
“I want us to, as much as we can, get ahead of it to give you the resources, the instruments that you need to go out and make sure that we’re preventing things from happening, not waiting until after the fact.”
Gonzales also suggested that proposals to cut funding to the DOJ, which encompasses the FBI, could undermine national security initiatives, noting a possible threat posed by Iran to the United States following U.S. airstrikes that targeted the country’s nuclear program.
“Those are the programs that we need more resources [for], more manpower,” the lawmaker said at one point.
Iran launched a barrage of missiles at a U.S. military base in Qatar on Monday. Later that day, President Donald Trump called for a cease-fire between Iran and Israel after the countries had launched airstrikes on one another for more than a week.
Bondi also said that the DOJ is committed to “doing more with less” amid budget cuts across the DOJ and the federal government, before suggesting that Congress pass the Trump administration-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act that is currently being considered by the Senate.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill gives us a lot of additional funding at the Department of Justice to carry out our mission,” Bondi said. “That’s where it will truly help [the] Department of Justice combat all of these issues that you brought up.”
On Monday morning, Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a NATO summit that, in his view, both sides had violated the cease-fire agreement. He had particularly strong words for Israel, a close ally, while suggesting Iran may have fired on the country by mistake.
Later, Trump wrote that the cease-fire deal was intact.
“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly “Plane Wave” to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
The DOJ indicted three individuals in 2024 in connection with an assassination plot that officials say originated in Iran, involving the killing of Trump and a journalist before last year’s presidential election.
“The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” former FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the time of the indictment of the three individuals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
