WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) led nearly 30 Democratic senators in sending a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) urging Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Maureen Henneberg to reverse the abrupt cancellation of hundreds of public safety grants that serve crime victims and improve public safety in communities across the country. The letter DOJ to provide information about its decision to cancel the grants. 

“On April 22, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) notified  hundreds of grant recipients across the country, without warning, that their funding had been  terminated, effective immediately. Many of these grants are authorized by Congress and support  programs that have enhanced public safety in communities rural and urban, affluent and poor,  Democratic and Republican. While this Administration continues to market itself as the  administration of law and order and public safety, DOJ has decided to defund programs that  prosecutors, police and sheriff’s departments, judges, mental health service providers,  academics, and more depend on to advance the Department’s longstanding ‘core mission of  keeping Americans safe and vigorously enforcing the law,’” the Senators wrote. 

“Based on public reporting, outreach from grantees, and a DOJ Justice Management Division  (JMD) spreadsheet (Encl. 1), it appears that the Department defunded at least 365 public safety  grants on April 22, 2025. A review of this information reveals that these grants provide support  for victims of crime and resources for communities to ensure public safety,” the Senators continued.

For example, with these grant terminations, the Department has defunded programs that support victims of crime, combat rape in prison, assist people with mental health disorders, reduce and prevent violence, and support successful reentry. These examples offer only a sample of the critical funding that DOJ abruptly terminated.

“The magnitude of these defunding measures, Congress’ role in authorizing and appropriating  grant funds, and the negative impacts that the sudden termination of funding will have on public  safety in communities across the country, requires the immediate review of the processes and  decisions that led to the cancellation of these critical grants,” the Senators wrote.

The Senators requested answers to nine questions about the cancellations, including whether the Department has reallocated the money to other programs and how officials determined which grants should be cancelled. 

  1. A DOJ JMD spreadsheet (Encl. 1) lists 365 grants that were terminated on April  22.
    1. Does this spreadsheet represent the entire universe of grants that were  terminated?  
    2. Are there grants that were terminated that are not reflected on the list? If so, provide the information in every column for these grants. 
  1. Which grants that were terminated on April 22 have since been restored? For each grant restored, please provide the reason for its restoration.  
  2. How were the grants that were terminated chosen? What were the factors  considered in making the determination to terminate? Where the affected grantees were state or local jurisdictions, did the political party of state or local officials in  those jurisdictions influence the determination to terminate? 
  3. Were there entire categories of grants that were terminated? If so, provide the  categories.  
  4. What is the legal basis for terminating grant funds that are statutorily required? 
  5. Has DOJ reallocated the funds it rescinded on April 22? Provide any specific  programs or purposes to which these funds will be reallocated. 
  6. Will DOJ terminate any more grants, from any of its funding components, that  have been obligated or are in cycle? If so, provide the grant-making component  and the grants that will be terminated or are under consideration to be terminated.  
  7. Was former Tesla employee turned-DOGE staffer Tarak Makecha solely  responsible for selecting which grants to terminate? Provide the names of all  individuals within DOJ who reviewed or approved the cancellation of the grants.  
  8. Did any White House officials review the grants to be terminated or otherwise  have any involvement in the decision to terminate the grants? Provide their names.

“Additionally, we advise that the Department restore immediately the grants terminated on April 22. The cursory termination of these programs imperils the public safety of the victims and communities that rely on these critical resources,” the Senators concluded.

The letter is cosigned by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Peter Welch (D-VT), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Patty Murray (D-WA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Chris Murphy (D-CT). 


To read the full text of the letter, click here.