Rep. Lucy McBath, along with fellow House Judiciary Democrats Rep. Jamie Raskin and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, has called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to restore public safety and crime prevention grants that were terminated by the Trump Administration last month.
The grants, totaling over $800 million, were cut despite President Trump’s previous commitments to support law enforcement and victims of violent crime. The DOJ informed grant recipients that their funding was terminated because their work no longer aligned with the Department’s “program goals or agency priorities.”
The funding cuts affected several programs, including the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program, the National Policing Institute, and initiatives supporting rural police departments in reducing violent crime. Other impacted programs include those aiding victims of crime and sexual assault, as well as initiatives like the VALOR Initiative for officer safety and wellness.
In a letter addressing these terminations, McBath and her colleagues stated: “Despite decades of broad bipartisan backing for these programs and President Trump’s promises to promote public safety, your staff abruptly and opaquely informed more than 300 grant awardees recently that their OJP grants were terminated because the awards ‘no longer effectuate[] the program goals or agency priorities.’ This is baffling.”
The letter also highlighted concerns about how these decisions were made without consulting experts within DOJ’s grantmaking arm. During a recent Judiciary Committee markup session on April 30, Republicans voted against an amendment proposed by Democrats to reinstate these grants.
Democratic Members have urged Attorney General Bondi to reverse the decision and provide clarity on why this essential funding was withdrawn.
