Spending Deal Revives Funds to DOJ ‘Peacemakers’ Office, Grants

Congressional spending leaders agreed to restore funding for the Justice Department’s dismantled “peacemakers” office and pour money into grant programs targeted by President Donald Trump’s administration.

The bipartisan proposal, released Monday by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, would give $20 million in fiscal 2026 to the Community Relations Service, the embattled office dedicated to community conflict resolution that the Trump administration has sought to eliminate.

It would also increase funding for the Office on Violence Against Women, which supports services for domestic violence survivors, despite the administration’s request to slash the office’s funding by nearly a third and combine it with another office.

The spending deal, part of a broader package to fund the Justice Department, Commerce Department, and other agencies, represents a rare instance of bipartisan congressional pushback on the administration’s effort to cut federal funding in areas perceived as out of step with its ideological priorities.

Democratic spending leaders touted the increased funding for the VAWA office in bill announcements. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, praised the bill as “a forceful rejection of draconian cuts to public services proposed by the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress.”

The spending bill would increase the VAWA office’s budget from $713 million last fiscal year to $720 million, a significant increase from the $505 million the administration proposed.

CRS, which saw all but one of its employees cut last year, would get $20 million, a cut from the $24 million budget it had last fiscal year but a departure from the administration’s proposal to eliminate its funding entirely as a standalone component. A challenge to the administration’s efforts to scrap the office is pending in Boston federal court.

And the Legal Services Corporation, an independent agency also slated for elimination by the administration that provides legal aid to low-income individuals, would receive $540 million.

Multiple public safety grant programs for state and local law enforcement agencies would also be funded, including $800 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services program and $13 million for grants unauthorized under the Project Safe Neighborhoods program. A community violence intervention and prevention initiative, slated for elimination in the administration’s proposal, would also get $50 million under the legislation.

The bipartisan proposal comes after the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs abruptly terminated hundreds of grants and agreements, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, in April 2025. The administration also proposed in its budget request last year to eliminate dozens of Justice Department grant programs seen as too progressive, including those promoting criminal and racial justice initiatives.