The Justice Department has asked agency officials who oversee grants for ideas on clearing homeless encampments and increasing involuntary hospitalization of the mentally ill, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.
The report comes a day after Reuters said the DOJ was terminating $811 million in grants, including some impacting victim service programs ranging from trauma centers and sign language interpretation for domestic violence victims to police training, according to internal documents and two sources.
After Reuters highlighted some of the cuts on Thursday, though, a Justice Department official said that seven of the victim services grants were being restored.
"We are confident that these cuts are consistent with the administration's priorities while at the same time protecting services that tangibly impact victims," a department official said.
In the email viewed by the Post, top DOJ officials sent employees in the Office of Justice Programs eight questions asking for their input on how best to direct resources to issues surrounding homelessness and mental illnesses.
"What can DOJ do to more efficiently shift chronic vagrants away from the public square and into a more concentrated space so that order can be restored, and resources and services can be deployed more effectively?" one of the questions read.
Another question read: "What can DOJ do to increase the availability and use of involuntary commitment for individuals with serious mental illness who, otherwise, cannot or will not receive care?"
"Alternatively, what can the Federal government do to shift state and local governments’ policies and behavior on this issue?"
President Donald Trump during the presidential election said he would forcibly remove the homeless and relocate them to "tent cities."
More than 771,000 people experienced homelessness on a single night in 2024, an all-time high, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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