The Department of Justice on Wednesday cut millions of dollars in grants from nonprofits across the country that Attorney General Pam Bondi deemed “wasteful” at the recommendation of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Among the hundreds of programs cut, according to a partial list obtained by Reuters, were: grants that supported crime victims; hotlines used by crime victims; grants to fight human trafficking; programs to curb juvenile delinquency and safeguard incarcerated youth; and funding for state-run hate-crime reporting.
In an email to the Office of Justice Programs, the DOJ office that awards the majority of grants, the DOJ said it was terminating grants that “no longer effectuate the program goals or agency priorities.”
The memo instructed the office to shift its focus to “supporting certain law enforcement operations, combatting violent crime, protecting American children, and supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault, and better coordinating law enforcement efforts at all levels of government.”
That’s news to the National CASA/GAL Association for Children, a national nonprofit that supports court-appointed special advocates for abused and neglected children. The organization was among those that had its grants abruptly terminated.
“Since [protecting American children] is in fact the mission of the CASA/GAL program, we strongly disagree with the decision to terminate the grants,” the organization said in an emergency appeal Wednesday.
“Without these funds, the work of CASA/GAL programs across the country will be impacted along with more than 200,000 children involved in child abuse and neglect proceedings.”
As a result, CASA/GAL said it had no choice but to suspend all services and support for state and local programs across the country on Thursday.
Bondi announced the cuts on social media late Wednesday and was immediately applauded by DOGE, the Elon Musk-helmed agency responsible for many of the Trump administration’s dumbest missteps.
A DOJ spokesperson told HuffPost:
“This Department of Justice is focused on prosecuting criminals, getting illegal drugs off of the streets, and protecting American institutions from toxic DEI and sanctuary city policies. Discretionary funds that are no longer aligned with the administration’s priorities are subject to review and reallocation.”
Another nonprofit, LiveFree OKC, focuses on reducing gun violence in Oklahoma City by focusing on high-risk individuals who are most likely to engage in violent crime.
The group’s CEO, Jess Eddy, told KOCO it lost a $2 million DOJ grant this week with little explanation.
“I can’t understate the difficulty it’ll cause for our staff, our employees, our clients, our families that we support, our schools that we support,” Eddy told the station.
He added that “most people that engage in criminal conduct — who are making poor decisions — are doing so out of trauma, out of unmet needs, diapers that they can’t buy for their child.”
Other groups, meanwhile, saw their funding mysteriously reinstated.
The Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence told NBC News its grants were terminated, then reinstated, all within 24 hours.
“I have no idea what changed, but we are grateful,” spokeswoman Jennifer Pollitt Hill told the outlet. “All I can say is chaos, confusion and whiplash!”
The Justice Department didn’t respond to questions from HuffPost about how many grants were being reinstated. However, in a statement to NBC, it claimed that all the grants “were meticulously reviewed to ensure that services to victims would not be impacted.”
It also said it’s opened a “30-day appeal window” for groups to “prove the opposite.”