Providence, R.I. – A judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island has issued an order preliminarily blocking the Trump-Vance administration’s latest effort to implement unlawful restrictions on grants that support survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other crimes nationwide. The order is the latest milestone in Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, et al. v. Blanche– a case filed in June 2025 by state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions and providers that successfully blocked the administration’s conditions on federal funding for programs administered by the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office on Violence Against Women.
DOJ’s previous efforts targeted grantees that implement diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and efforts that help immigrants, recognize and respect people regardless of gender identity, and acknowledge systemic causes of abuse, among other things. The court issued an order in August 2025, blocking those unlawful restrictions, which would have made it impossible for many grantees to operate legally or effectively. DOJ has now imposed additional conditions on grant funding administered by the Office of Justice Programs and the Office for Victims of Crime. These new, unlawful, and potentially devastating additional conditions include restrictions and limitations that would prevent providers from serving certain noncitizen survivors and others who couldn’t immediately prove their citizenship. Today’s order, in response to an amended complaint by the coalition, stops DOJ from imposing the additional conditions.
The coalition behind the lawsuit includes the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence; Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault; District of Columbia Coalition Against Domestic Violence; End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Hawaiʻi State Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence; Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Jane Doe Inc. (The Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence); Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence; Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence; Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence; Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence; North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence; VALORUS; Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; Violence Free Minnesota; Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance; Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence; and Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
Plaintiffs are represented by Kristin Bateman and Robin Thurston with Democracy Forward, Lynn Eisenberg with Jacobson Lawyers Group, Lynette Labinger for the ACLU of Rhode Island, Lauren Khouri and Elizabeth Theran with the National Women’s Law Center, and Amy Romero for the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island.
The coalition released the following statement in response to today’s order.
“We are grateful that a court has intervened again to stop this unlawful and unconscionable assault on vital federal funding for survivors of violence. Even after the court blocked the Trump-Vance administration from attaching unlawful conditions to funding for lifesaving services for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors last year, the Department of Justice tried it again. These grants help sustain shelters, crisis response services, legal assistance, and coordinated community efforts that survivors rely on in moments of profound danger. We are eager to continue arguing this case in court and to convert this preliminary relief into lasting, permanent protection.”
Read today’s order here and the amended complaint here.
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Democracy Forward is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.
