Trump budget defunds the police

WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released the following statement responding to the Trump administration’s plan to slash law enforcement budgets across the Department of Justice. 

As reported by Reuters, “The White House proposal calls for a roughly $1.2 billion budget for ATF in fiscal 2026, which would be down from its current funding level of about $1.625 billion…If enacted, that would be the agency’s lowest budget since at least 2016.” The proposal would “hamper [law enforcement’s] ability to carry out the Trump administration’s pledge to crack down on violent crime, three sources familiar with the matter said.”

“Trump is officially defunding the police. The gun homicide rate skyrocketed 34% during Trump’s first term, and these mammoth law enforcement cuts will spur violent crime across the country. It is the opposite of Making America Safer,” said Emma Brown, Executive Director at GIFFORDS. “ These cuts come on the heels of the administration gutting lifesaving violence intervention and school mental health programs. Donald Trump and the entire administration keep finding new ways to put Americans at risk from gun violence in our schools and communities. Any Republican who campaigned on fighting crime must reject these foolish cuts to police or answer for it next November.”

Earlier this week, the Trump administration slashed mental health grants that allowed schools to hire psychologists, counselors and mental health workers in an effort to prevent school shootings—even the law’s Republican backers celebrated this achievement in recent months. Those cuts came on the heels of $881 million in Department of Justice grant cancellations to violence prevention programs and other essential initiatives across the country. GIFFORDS is tracking these and other disastrous gun violence moves by Trump here.