WA's congressional lawmakers press for reversal of millions in canceled DOJ grants

Yahoo

06-05-2025

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Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) delivers remarks during a committee hearing at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Feb. 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. She's among the lawmakers pushing back against the Trump administration's cuts to Department of Justice grants to states. (Photo by)
Washington's U.S. senators are demanding the Trump administration reverse the cancellation of more than $50 million in grants for local public safety efforts.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice clawed back hundreds of federal grants reportedly totaling over $810 million nationwide.
Washington was getting six of those grants, worth $55 million in total, according to Sen. Maria Cantwell's office. The money was for work focused on helping abused and neglected children, reducing sexual assault in prisons and preventing gun violence.
Elsewhere, affected programs focused on bullying prevention, combating substance abuse and supporting people exiting incarceration. It's unclear how much of the money was still left to be spent at the time of the cuts.
A handful of grants related to victim services have since been restored, according to Reuters.
More than two dozen Democratic senators penned a letter last week calling on the Trump administration to reinstate the congressionally authorized funding. Both of Washington's senators, Cantwell and Sen. Patty Murray, signed onto the letter.
'These programs deliver critical resources to state, local, and community advocates who help people with addiction and protect kids, veterans, and victims of crime across the country,' the senators wrote.
On Monday, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, including Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, similarly pleaded with Attorney General Pam Bondi to reinstate the federal grants.
The biggest chunk of rescinded local funding from the Office of Justice Programs was three grants totaling $48 million for the Seattle-based National CASA/GAL Association for work training court-appointed special advocates to represent children in legal proceedings.
The association said it received notice that the DOJ was immediately revoking its grants because they 'no longer effectuate the program goals or agency priorities.'
It called on allies to write to their congressional representatives that the advocacy of court-appointed special advocates 'makes a life-changing difference for children who have experienced abuse or neglect, many of whom are in foster care.'
The association says it works with tens of thousands of volunteers and hundreds of affiliates in 49 states to serve over 200,000 children per year.
The Center for Children & Youth Justice lost $6 million from two grants to fund its violence prevention efforts focused on King County youth.
'The loss of this funding means that CCYJ's gun violence prevention work will be halted immediately, and they will no longer be able to provide protections for high-risk youth across King County,' Jayapal wrote on the social media platform X.
Another canceled $250,000 grant to the Washington state Department of Corrections went toward reducing sexual abuse in prison. The agency had already spent $234,000 of that money, so the impact of the rescission will be 'minimal,' a spokesperson said.
The Department of Justice didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The rescinded grants are a familiar story in the early months of the second Trump administration and amid cutting efforts by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has already taken President Donald Trump's administration to court over canceled grants for public health and medical research, as well as a broad federal funding freeze in January.