[dragonwriter]

> Police are not funded by Congress...

Yes, they are; out of very roughly $125 billion annually in funding for state and local police, about $20 billion comes from the feds through DOJ programs that support them, and some comes through other federal funding streams.

[Alupis]

This is stretching the truth I think. The feds don't just hand out money to your local town's police and buy them things. The local government applies for grants, funds and special programs and then gives it to the police. Which is very different.

It might get muddy when an elected official runs the law enforcement office (such as with elected county sheriffs, etc.), but that is still the local government that is doing the requesting.