Jordan Threatens 'Power of the Purse' Against FBI, DOJ

House Republicans will have to use the "power of the purse" against the FBI and the Department of Justice to limit how they've been treating the American people, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said Sunday.

"In the end, money always gets people's attention, so what we're going to have to do is say, 'hey, FBI, you can't use the American tax dollars for this kind of activity,'" the Ohio Republican told Fox News's "Sunday Morning Futures" host Maria Bartiromo.

His comments come after last week's often-contentious subcommittee hearing, in which the group heard testimony from three suspended FBI agents who testified that they've been targeted for being whistleblowers who went to Congress over concerns on the Jan. 6, 2021 protest investigations and other issues.

That funding ban could come, for example, in blocking the FBI's request for money for a new facility, said Jordan.

"They want hundreds of millions of dollars in their construction budget for a new facility," he said. "No way should we approve that. That should be a given. No way we're going to give you money for that."

The Founding Fathers, he added, particularly the House, "where every spending bill, every tax bill has to originate" to be the body that decides how we spend the money.

"So we have to exercise our authority, the power of the purse, to limit what the federal government, what the FBI and Justice Department, are doing to the American people," said Jordan.

He added that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the chamber's Republicans are committed to doing all 12 appropriations bills over the next several months to fund the government, with the first coming out in a few weeks.

"We've been meeting with our staff to work out how we can limit money, American tax dollars, being used in these ways and deal with the overall budget that the FBI and the DOJ are receiving," said Jordan. "The first of those 12 appropriations bills will be [out] the week after we get back from the Memorial Day recess."

Meanwhile, the American public has learned a great deal about the FBI's activities both through the whistleblower hearing and the release of the Dunham report, which showed that the agency "had no probable cause, no evidence whatsoever" to investigate former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and allegations of Russian collusion, said Jordan.

Meanwhile, the congressman said he doesn't think much has changed since the FBI was under the leadership of former director James Comey.

"They took a dossier that they knew was false, and that became the basis to go get a warrant to spy on a presidential campaign and to spy on American citizens," said Jordan. "I mean, you can't do that in this country."

The FBI surveilled people in the Trump campaign through Foreign Intelligence Surveillance ACT (FISA) warrants, and Jordan noted that the act's reauthorization is coming up at the end of this year.

"There is no way we're going to support reauthorizing FISA in its current form, no possible way," he said. "I think every single Republican on the Judiciary Committee is committed to a fundamental change in how that process works. This report that came out this week from Mr. Durham, coupled with the news accounts of the 278,000 times the FBI abused Americans' rights who were simply exercising their First Amendment liberties…that has to fundamentally change. We are committed to making that happen this Congress."

Jordan also on Sunday would not rule out the potential that former Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton may come under investigation because of findings in the Durham report that she was not investigated like Trump was during their campaign.

"They not only didn't investigate her like they did President Trump, they gave her campaign a defensive briefing," he said. "They should have done the same for President Trump because they literally had no evidence. So so we're going to talk with Speaker McCarthy on where we proceed from here."