Jen Kiggans Supported Elon Musk’s DOGE Program, Calling It “Very Necessary,” Even As It Haphazardly Cut $811 Million In Federal Funds And Left Local Law Enforcement Scrambling To Replace Funds They Depended On To Keep People Safe
Kiggans Supported DOGE And Called It “So Necessary”
December 2024: Kiggans Described A GOP Conference With DOGE Leaders Elon Musk And Vivek Ramaswamy As “Productive” And Was Excited “To Make Government Accountable”
Kiggans Described A GOP Conference Meeting With DOGE Leaders Elon Musk And Vivek Ramaswamy As “Productive.” “Productive first meeting with the our @HouseGOP Conference, @elonmusk and @VivekGRamaswamy to discuss the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE...! I'm looking forward to getting to work in the 119th Congress to make government accountable to the American people!” [Congressman Jen Kiggans, Twitter, 12/5/24]
- Kiggans Said She Was “Looking Forward To Getting To Work In The 119th Congress To Make Government Accountable.” “Productive first meeting with the our @HouseGOP Conference, @elonmusk and @VivekGRamaswamy to discuss the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE...! I'm looking forward to getting to work in the 119th Congress to make government accountable to the American people!” [Congressman Jen Kiggans, Twitter, 12/5/24]
Image: see original report, p. 123
February 2025: Kiggans Called DOGE Cuts The “Change” Americans Voted For And Said Those Changes Were “So Necessary”
Kiggans Called DOGE Cuts The “Change” Americans Voted For. “Americans voted for overwhelming change in November, and that change is happening now. In recent weeks, illegal crossings at our southern border have dropped by 93%…! The economy remains a top concern, and we are actively working on reducing government spending and streamlining operations. Remember that repairing an economy in shambles handed to us by the Biden administration won't happen overnight….! My priority remains you - the people I represent, our families, and our military and veterans. Please reach out to my office if you have any questions or concerns we can address.” [Jen Kiggans, Twitter, 2/24/25]
Image: see original report, p. 124
Kiggans Said That The DOGE Cuts Were Changes But Those Changes Were “So Necessary.” “#VA02 Jen Kiggans defends DOGE's reckless cuts which has caused Virginians to lose their jobs and says it's ‘necessary.’ ‘Now, I know it's a lot of change, but this change is so necessary.” [American Bridge 21st Century, X, 2/27/25]
Image: see original report, p. 124
A DOGE Staffer Made $811 Million In Haphazard Cuts To DOJ Funds That Helped Local Police And Supported Crime Victims
Reuters Headline: “DOGE Staffer Advised On Cuts To Justice Dept Grants, Document And Source Say” [Reuters, 4/29/25]
A DOGE Staffer Helped Terminate $811 Million In DOJ Grants That Had Supported Local Crime Victims And Police. “A member of Elon Musk's U.S. Department of Government Efficiency helped steer the Justice Department's April termination of more than $811 million in grants, including funding for Trump administration priorities such as aid to crime victims and police, according to a document and a person familiar with the matter. Tarak Makecha, a former employee of Musk's Tesla (TSLA.O), is listed as the author of a DOJ spreadsheet that detailed the 365 targeted grants, according to a copy of the document viewed by Reuters.” [Reuters, 4/29/25]
- Reuters: Many Of DOGE’s Haphazard Cuts To DOJ Public Safety Funds Were Restored After Reuters Reported On Them. “A White House official told Reuters that all of Makecha's actions were approved by DOJ leadership. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment and Makecha did not respond to requests for comment. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said she authorized cuts to programs that did not align with President Donald Trump's priorities to assist law enforcement, combat violent crime, protect children and support victims of violence and sexual assault. But many of the terminated grants appeared to align with those priorities, and some cuts were quickly reversed after Reuters reported on them. Tapped by Trump to carry out a massive campaign of government cuts, Musk's DOGE has moved at great speed, in some cases causing chaos within the government, and in others firing then rehiring the same workers. The Intercept previously reported that Makecha started doing work on the grant programs in late March.” [Reuters, 4/29/25]
The Funds That Were Cut Had Supported Local Violence Reduction, Juvenile Justice And Child Protection, Drug And Mental Health Treatment, And State And Local Public Safety
Council On Criminal Justice: “The Terminated Grants Provided Federal Support For Violence Reduction, Policing And Prosecution, Victims’ Services, Juvenile Justice And Child Protection, Substance Use And Mental Health Treatment, Corrections And Reentry, Justice System Enhancements, Research And Evaluation, And Other State- And Local-Level Public Safety Functions.” “The terminated grants provided federal support for violence reduction, policing and prosecution, victims’ services, juvenile justice and child protection, substance use and mental health treatment, corrections and reentry, justice system enhancements, research and evaluation, and other state- and local-level public safety functions. The terminated funding was largely appropriated or authorized by Congress for specific programs or purpose areas. OJP administers these funds in alignment with the needs of the field and, to the extent possible, evidence-based and promising practices. The cuts affected grantees from organizations in 37 states across the country, in red and blue states and urban, suburban, and rural areas alike. Grants to nonprofit organizations made up the vast majority of the terminations, while grants to state and local government agencies accounted for a smaller portion. Grants to public and private universities appear to have been left intact. The deepest cuts were to organizations that provide training and technical assistance to OJP grantees and the field at large, including reductions to programs that paired expert support with pass-through funding for community-based organizations and government agencies. About 60% of terminated grants did not include references to diversity, equity, race, gender, or related terms in their project descriptions, according to a CCJ analysis.” [Council on Criminal Justice, May 2025]
DOJ Cuts To Public Safety Grants Left Police And Local Law Enforcement Agencies Scrambling To Replace Dollars And Threatened Layoffs For People Who Fight Crime At The Local Level
NPR Headline: “Justice Department Cuts To Public Safety Grants Leave Police And Nonprofits Scrambling” [NPR, 5/24/25]
May 2025: NPR: “The Justice Department Has Drastically Scaled Back Its Support For Anti-Crime Initiatives Across The Country, Leaving Law Enforcement Agencies And Private Groups Scrambling To Try To Replace The Money.” “The Justice Department has drastically scaled back its support for anti-crime initiatives across the country, leaving law enforcement agencies and private groups scrambling to try to replace the money. The cuts were announced in late April, and the Council on Criminal Justice estimates 373 grants were terminated, totaling about $500 million. The sweeping nature of the cuts took many public safety groups by surprise. ‘We knew that there were federal cuts coming,’ says Kelsie McDaniel, the district attorney in Union County, Oregon. ‘But we didn't think that it would include things that were within the program goals and agency priorities that the DOJ had previously talked about.’” [NPR, 5/24/25]
- Council On Criminal Justice Estimated 373 DOJ Grants Were Terminated, And The Scale Of The Cuts Left Local Law Enforcement Scrambling To Replace The Money. “The Justice Department has drastically scaled back its support for anti-crime initiatives across the country, leaving law enforcement agencies and private groups scrambling to try to replace the money. The cuts were announced in late April, and the Council on Criminal Justice estimates 373 grants were terminated, totaling about $500 million. The sweeping nature of the cuts took many public safety groups by surprise. ‘We knew that there were federal cuts coming,’ says Kelsie McDaniel, the district attorney in Union County, Oregon. ‘But we didn't think that it would include things that were within the program goals and agency priorities that the DOJ had previously talked about.’” [NPR, 5/24/25]
- NPR: Sweeping DOJ Cuts Could Leave Local Agencies To Have To Lay Off Officers And Others Who Help Fight Crime. “Instead, that grant was one of the ones cancelled. Most of the money had already been spent, but she worries that the cancellation means Union County won't be able to get this kind of federal funding again in the future. ‘Federal grants allow agencies to really do things that they wouldn't ordinarily otherwise be able to do,’ says Jim Burch, president of the National Policing Institute, which helped distribute many of the grants to rural law enforcement. He says the sudden cuts, many of them mid-stream, ‘could result in layoffs of things like crime analysts and IT professionals. And it could mean that the agency has fewer staff for patrol services.’ Many grant recipients suspect there wasn't much research behind the cuts. ‘They don't know what they're doing. They're just pulling things apart,’ says Aqeela Sherrills, co-founder and executive director of the Community Based Public Safety Collective, which provides training and assistance to community violence intervention groups — the ‘violence interrupter’ model that started in the 1990s.” [NPR, 5/24/25]