Washington, D.C. — Democracy Forward today filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking records on the heels of news reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has abruptly terminated an $11 million federal contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami that was used to shelter and care for unaccompanied children. The cancellation comes amid public disagreements between President Trump and Pope Leo XIV.
The sudden cancellation of the contract has raised questions about whether standard agency processes were followed or whether outside political pressure played a role in the decision.
“The idea that federal officials would yank millions of dollars from an organization caring for children because of the president’s self-inflicted messaging disagreement with the Pope should alarm anyone who believes in democracy, the rule of law, religious liberty, and basic accountability in government,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “If this decision was driven by retaliation or ideology instead of law and facts, that is a profound abuse of power, and we intend to get the answers. Democracy Forward has had to go to court to challenge unlawful and retaliatory terminations of funds by the president on behalf of civic institutions, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Bar Association – and we have won those cases. Decisions like this must be grounded in evidence, expertise, and the public interest, not politics, not pressure, and not personal grievances and we intend to get to the bottom of what is happening here.”
The request seeks internal directives, communications, and records from HHS, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), as well as communications with the White House, to determine whether political considerations influenced the decision to cancel the contract. The request covers communications and decision-making from February 1 through April 16, 2026, a period that includes escalating tensions between Trump-Vance administration officials and papal leadership.
Read the request here.
