As lawmakers search for who’s to blame for the rising tide of political violence, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Jamie Raskin, is looking for answers from the Trump administration on cuts to key violence protection programs.
In a new letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that was first shared with NOTUS, Raskin blasts Republican cabinet members for gutting some of those violence prevention programs.
“The success of planned attacks like these is not inevitable; many such plans have been prevented in the past by early detection, careful monitoring, and zealous investigation and intervention by your respective agencies,” the letter reads.
“But reports indicate that, at the instruction of President Trump and his senior advisors, you have torn down the longstanding counterterrorism infrastructure that has kept the country safe from domestic terrorism,” the letter continues.
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Members of Congress in both parties have struggled to explain and respond to the lethal Minnesota shootings that left former state Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband dead, as well as another state lawmaker and his wife hospitalized. Raskin’s letter offers one path forward for Democrats, squarely placing the blame on specific Trump administration policies.
Among Raskin’s arguments in the six-page letter, he specifically called out the Department of Justice sidelining senior career attorneys in the National Security Division and Criminal Division and reassigning them to a new “sanctuary cities” task force. Many of those attorneys ended up leaving the DOJ, “depriving the Department of decades of counterterrorism and national security experience.”
He also criticized Patel and the FBI for cutting staff at its domestic terrorism unit and ceasing to use a national database for tracking domestic terrorism and hate crimes. Raskin also hit Patel for the use of widespread polygraph tests on staff and pursuing what the Maryland Democrat called a “witch hunt” at the bureau that has tanked morale.
Raskin hammered DHS for cutting grants supported by the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, known as CP3, which has awarded millions to community groups and local law enforcement. The Trump administration has also reportedly eliminated 75% of the center’s staff and appointed 22-year-old Thomas Fugate to run the center without any apparent national security expertise.
In a statement, a DHS spokesperson told NOTUS that the agency has a “robust counterterrorism program” and that CP3 plays an “insignificant and ineffective” role in those efforts.
“It should be no surprise to anyone, that the Trump Administration is making a diligent effort to end waste, fraud, and abuse — this office is just another example,” the statement said, adding that the senior official performing the duties of the undersecretary has directly overseen efforts to reform the office and has tasked several staffers to assist.
The DOJ and FBI did not respond to requests for comment.
Raskin requested a briefing “as soon as possible” so that “Congress can understand—and work to remedy—the complete scope of your dangerous attack on the programs, offices, task forces, and professionals who have worked conscientiously to keep us safe from terrorists and violent extremists.”
“In its first 149 days, the Trump Administration has gutted the federal government’s ability to monitor, prevent, and prosecute domestic extremism, antisemitism, and hate crimes,” the letter reads.
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Riley Rogerson is a reporter at NOTUS.
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