United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States. It is equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries. The department is headed by the U.S. attorney general, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. The current attorney general is Merrick Garland, who has served since March 2021.
Seal of the U.S. Department of Justice | |
Flag of the U.S. Department of Justice | |
The Robert F. Kennedy Building is the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Justice. | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | July 1, 1870 |
| Type | Executive department |
| Jurisdiction | U.S. federal government |
| Headquarters | Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C., United States 38°53′36″N 77°1′30″W |
| Motto | "Qui Pro Domina Justitia Sequitur" (Latin: "Who prosecutes on behalf of justice (or the Lady Justice)") |
| Employees | 113,114 (2019) |
| Annual budget | $37.7 billion (FY 2023) |
| Agency executives | |
| Website | justice.gov |
The Justice Department contains most of the United States' federal law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The department also has eight divisions of lawyers who represent the U.S. federal government in litigation: the Criminal, Civil, Antitrust, Tax, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, National Security, and Justice Management Divisions. The department also includes the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts.
The U.S. Congress created the Justice Department in 1870 during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. The Justice Department's functions originally date to 1789, when Congress created the office of the Attorney General.