CBS News has learned hundreds of FBI agents and staff have been fired or are leaving due to the government's worker buyout program. It all represents a fork in the road for the bureau.

Washington

Approximately 800 FBI employees, including a significant number of agents, have recently left the bureau. This reduction represents about 2% of the FBI's workforce and is separate from any government shutdown-related impacts. Many of those departing possess valuable institutional knowledge and experience in areas such as counterterrorism and violent crime investigations.

Early reports, including data from Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, indicate a shift in FBI priorities, with more focus on immigration enforcement. As a result, there has been a noticeable decline in the number of cases referred for prosecution involving guns and other violent crimes. Other federal agencies, such as the DEA and ATF, have also seen a decrease in case referrals, raising concerns about the broader impact on law enforcement operations.

What the FBI's mass exodus means for the bureau's future

This is separate from the government shutdown threat at midnight, totally different. But at midnight, about 800 or so FBI employees are gone. They took that fork in the road. So those who were staying on the job until about now, they'll be about gone. That includes about a third of them as FBI agents. That's in addition to the other firings and buyouts throughout the U.S. Department of Justice. Look at those numbers. There are roughly 36,700 FBI employees. None impacted by the shutdown, but about 2% of them leaving tonight. Half of them agents, John, that has an impact on cases on the ground. These are people with institutional memory, with experience, with sources, chasing terrorists, child pornographers, and gun runners. And so what are some of those impacts? We've seen or we've heard about a shift in priorities. Is that, well, tell us about that shift in priorities. It's early, but we're getting an early read on this, in part from records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. It's an arm of Syracuse University. And they have found, since this reassignment and reprioritization towards immigration enforcement, that there's a drop in the number of cases being made and referred for prosecution involving guns, intentionally involving other violent crimes. The DEA, Drug Enforcement Administration, the ATF, the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Bureau, both have about a 10% or so drop in referrals already this year, according to that Syracuse University study. John, there's concern that when you reprioritize agents, you do leave one plate spinning in the air, and it could crash down to the ground.

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