Washington, D.C. — Democracy Forward filed suit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) today to compel the release of public records about the Trump-Vance administration’s abrupt termination of more than $800 million in Justice Department grants that supported programs on violence prevention, crime victim services, and community safety.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to enforce the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after the DOJ and FBI failed to produce records about the politically driven decision to cancel more than 375 multi-year cooperative agreements and grants issued through the Office of Justice Programs (OJP).

News reporting suggested that a staffer from the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) played a central role in identifying which grants would be terminated, bypassing the DOJ’s established review and management processes. Democracy Forward’s FOIA requests, filed in May 2025, sought communications and records that could shed light on the extent of this political interference and its impact on public safety funding.

“The administration’s political operatives appear to have interfered with critical Justice Department programs that make our communities safer — and the public has a right to know why,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “When a government secretly pulls funding from programs that prevent gun violence, support survivors of violence, and strengthen public safety, it’s not efficiency — it’s abuse of power. If this administration cared about the safety of people and their communities, it would not have pulled the rug out from under these critical programs. We will continue to fight for transparency and accountability so the American people can see what is being done in their name.”

Despite acknowledging receipt of the requests months ago, the DOJ and FBI have failed to release any of the requested records or to justify their refusal under FOIA. The FOIA lawsuit asks the court to order the DOJ and FBI to conduct searches, release all non-exempt records, and end their unlawful withholding of information related to the OJP grant terminations.

The case is Democracy Forward Foundation v. Department of Justice et al., and the legal team in this case includes Daniel McGrath, Amy C. Vickery, and Robin F. Thurston.

On May 21, 2025, a coalition of five nonprofit and community organizations from several cities across the country, represented by Democracy Forward and Perry Law, sued to stop these unlawful grant terminations. The lawsuit argues that these cancellations threaten federal support for programs proven to keep communities across the United States safe. The case is ongoing in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Read the complaint here.