Lawmaker says Trump cuts and proposed 2027 budget threaten victim services

A lawmaker told the House Judiciary Committee that last year’s federal grant cancellations and President Trump’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget would cut funding for programs that support victims of crime, potentially depriving millions of survivors of services.

The lawmaker said the administration ‘‘abruptly terminated $500,000,000 in grant funding that reduced crime and improved our public safety’’ and that those cuts included more than 50 grants supporting victim services. The speaker cited training programs for nurses who perform forensic examinations for survivors of [redacted] violence as one example of services that have been affected.

Why it matters: the lawmaker said the Crime Victims Fund — which the speaker described as serving more than 6,000,000 victims each year — is nearly depleted. ‘‘That means 6,000,000 victims of violent crime might be deprived of life saving support if we fail to prioritize the needs of victims and survivors and fight to restore the programs that we know work,’’ the lawmaker said, warning that proposed cuts of ‘‘tens of millions of dollars’’ to grants administered by the Office of Violence Against Women would further reduce housing and legal assistance that help survivors find safety.

The speaker framed the remarks as both a critique of prior actions and a call for restoration. ‘‘We cannot let this happen,’’ the lawmaker said at the close of the remarks.

The remarks recorded in the transcript were confined to statements of concern and did not include a formal motion, vote, or specific legislative text under consideration. The transcript does not record any direct response or factual rebuttal to the funding figures cited.

Provenance: The article summarizes assertions made in a single block of testimony to the House Judiciary Committee as recorded in the provided transcript.