Washington – A bipartisan duo in the Chamber leads a letter to the attorney general Pam Bondi expressing “deep concern” that the Trump administration has put subsidies for programs that help survivors of domestic violence and sexual aggression.
The representatives Josh Gottheimer, Dn.J., and Young Kim, R-Calif., Have been collecting signatures for the letter, which was first obtained by NBC News and is supported by more than 100 members of the house. The letter will be sent to Bondi on Thursday.
In February, the Office of Violence of the Department of Justice against Women eliminated all notices of chance opportunities for fiscal year 2025 of its website, which generated alarm of non -profit groups that provide services to the victims of abuse, Politico reported.
“We wrote to express our deep concern about the reports that the Office of Violence against Women (OVW) has withdrawn its notice of 2025 financing opportunities. OVW manages critical subsidies programs that provide support to save lives to survivors of domestic violence, sexual aggression, dates and accumulation violence,” says the letter.
“The sudden withdrawal of these financing opportunities threatens to interrupt the essential services, jeopardize the stability of victims assistance programs and undermine the bipartisan commitment to combat these forms of violence,” he continues. “We respectfully urge the Department of Justice to clarify the status of these subsidies as soon as possible and take quick measures to ensure that financing is available to support survivors and organizations that serve them.”
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The letter is a rare bipartisan rebuke of the management of the Trump administration of federal funds. Gottheimer is postulated for New Jersey governor this year, while Kim is a moderate Republican from southern California who faces a hard re -election fight next year.
The representative Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA., A co-president of the Caucus of the problem solving, also signed the letter. The signatories also include two Republican delegates to the Chamber, Kimberlyn King-Hinds of the Mariana Islands of the North and Aumua Amata Coleman Radoewagen by American Samoa.
Other Democrats who help with the effort are the representative Debbie Dingell de Michigan, member of the leadership of the party in the Chamber, and the representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin.
The Office of Violence against Women was created through the Law of Violence against Women, a bipartisan law known as Vawa, which manages subsidy programs that provide services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual aggression, violence and harassment.
Vawa was signed in the law in 1994 and re -authorized several times, more recently in 2022. Democrats have indicated that in their Senate confirmation hearing, Bondi promised to “faithfully implement these programs” and “guarantee that all programs administered by the department, including those of OVW, are administered effectively and according to their missions according to those who act with the Congress.”
Legislators wrote in their letter: “A delay or reduction in the financing of OVW will have devastating consequences for innumerable people who trust these resources for security, legal protection and recovery. This abrupt withdrawal of funds has created a serious uncertainty that threatens the well -being of survivors who cannot pay these dentures.
“We ask the department to clarify its plans to rectify this situation and ensure that the financing of the OVW subsidy is completely restored without further delay to continue providing attention to survivors of domestic violence.”
