Roll Call reports:
Attorney General Pamela Bondi during her Senate confirmation bid pitched herself as a leader with a track record of supporting victims, a history some Republican senators pointed to when backing her nomination.
But after her first months in the role, victim service organizations and their supporters say there’s fear and deep uncertainty about the future of Justice Department funding, something they describe as a mainstay in the nation’s response to helping victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.
The Justice Department wiped from its website a grant opportunity used to assist victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault, only to repost the notice months later. It raised the potential of “consolidating grantmaking work” in certain areas, including the Office on Violence Against Women. And it terminated a swath of grant money directed toward organizations focused on helping crime victims, a decision five groups filed a lawsuit to reverse.
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The grant terminations have spurred an uproar from congressional Democrats, while Republicans have largely avoided criticizing the department’s move to terminate the grants.
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Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., who also sits on the subcommittee, said there should be a pullback in government spending.
“We have to prioritize what gets funded and what doesn’t. And at DOJ, law enforcement is our top priority, and Bondi is doing a good job of prioritizing safety and security,” Cline said.
But four years ago Cline posted on Facebook:
So add assistance to victims of rape and domestic violence to the list of programs that Cline is willing to cut in order to provide people earning more than half-a-million dollars a year with $1.1 trillion in tax cuts.
Cline Watch 