How Prison Agency Under Biden Freed Inmates Early, Wasted Tons Of Taxpayer Money

Federal prison officials cost taxpayers millions of dollars and prematurely freed inmates through faulty enforcement of a criminal reform program, a federal probe found.

The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) overcharged by $106 million for inmate phone calls and failed to provide reentry programs to 9,819 early-release inmates between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general’s office said Thursday. The mistakes stemmed from the implementation of the bipartisan First Step Act, which President Donald Trump passed in 2018, the investigation found. However, the BOP is complying with the watchdog agency’s suggestions for fixing the deficiencies, according to the report.

We just released a report on the BOP’s use of $1.23 billion in First Step Act funds to pay for reentry programs for federal prisoners. We identified several significant issues and made 7 recommendations for improvement. Learn more: https://t.co/apn6YMg8wv

— DOJ Inspector General (@JusticeOIG) May 28, 2026

The BOP “continues to evaluate the resources necessary to sustain implementation of this policy, as well as proposals to expand incentives for inmates” to complete reentry programs, a BOP spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The White House declined to comment.

Trump’s law lets eligible inmates earn time credits toward early release if they complete educational “Recidivism Reduction” coursework or “Productive Activities” programs such as group therapy or exercise sessions. Inmates may also earn free telephone minutes for participating in First Step Act programs.

Trump and the law’s other supporters advertised it as a way to reduce recidivism through leniency and rehabilitation for criminals. Trump has championed a more pro-incarceration approach in his second term, calling out “pro-crime politicians” who release “dangerous repeat offenders,” flooding liberal cities with more law enforcement agents and moving to strip funds from jurisdictions with cashless bail policies.

The Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to implement the First Step Act over a two-year period spun out of control, according to the DOJ inspector general.

Its missteps included “reimbursing itself more than $100 million over what it calculated to be the cost of providing the telephone calls and moving appropriations that were tied to a specific year into a revolving fund with no time limits on spending,” the inspector general’s office wrote. “Collectively, these actions raise potential appropriations law issues.”

The BOP also gave the free phone minutes regardless of whether inmates partook of reentry programs, nullifying the supposed incentive for participating in the programs, according to the inspector general.

“Nearly one-quarter of the over 41,000 inmates who were released using applied [First Step Act] time credits between FYs 2022 and 2024 had not completed a single FSA program,” the report found. The BOP’s failure to staff roughly half of the roles authorized to implement the law by July 2024 also hurt its efficiency, the document says.

Not all hope is lost for the First Step Act’s implementation, the inspector general’s office said.

The BOP is in the process of implementing seven recommendations from the inspector general to clarify its spending processes and verify that inmates are taking the required reentry programs, according to the report.

“Based on historical data, BOP projects that in FY 2026, the free phone calls provided as an incentive under [the law] will total approximately 25,557,248 calls, at an estimated cost of $21,127,658,” the BOP spokesperson told the DCNF. “Expansion of incentives for inmates has centered primarily on increasing preferred housing opportunities and transfer opportunities closer to home. Current proposals under consideration have not identified a need for additional appropriated resources.”