In a stunning move that advocates say signals a new authoritarian turn in federal governance, the Trump administration has abruptly terminated all Department of Justice (DOJ) funding for the Vera Institute of Justice, one of the nation’s leading nonprofit organizations working on public safety, incarceration reform, and community-based alternatives to policing.
The cut, totaling approximately $5 million in grants, came without warning and was soon followed by a threatening email from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—a controversial Trump-era agency accused of political interference.
In the email, DOGE staffer Nate Cavanaugh demanded a meeting with Vera leadership and warned that failing to comply would be taken as evidence that the organization was not in compliance with a presidential executive order. Vera, which holds no federal contracts and was unaware of any such order applying to private nonprofits, described the communication as “baffling.”
“This is not normal,” Vera said in an email to the Vanguard. “The gutting of grants and the threat of DOGE investigations are tactics to silence us and other progressive nonprofits and to cease our opposition to President Trump’s regressive policies.”
While the administration has defended the termination as a matter of shifting priorities—citing vague new goals like “supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault”—critics argue that Vera was deliberately targeted for its vocal stance on mass incarceration, immigration policy, and racial justice.
In an interview with the Vanguard, Vera’s Vice President for Advocacy and Partnerships, Insha Rahman, called the funding termination “unexpected and deeply troubling.”
“What is extraordinary,” Rahman said, “is that to our knowledge, and we’ve checked, this has happened to no other organization doing similar work. DOJ gives out roughly $6 billion a year in grant funding. We were receiving just $5 million. Why us? We’ve been loud. We’ve been principled. And we’ve opposed this administration’s deportation agenda and cuts to mental health and drug treatment services. That’s why.”
The defunded programs include initiatives that most would consider noncontroversial: improving safety and dignity in prisons for both staff and incarcerated people; funding mobile crisis response teams to replace police in mental health emergencies; and helping law enforcement agencies better support deaf and disabled survivors of violence.
“These are the kinds of projects that should have bipartisan support,” Rahman noted. “They are about real safety, real justice.”
Yet instead of support, Vera found itself locked out of the federal grant payment system, unable to even retrieve the $260,000 already owed for work completed.
Making matters worse, just a week after the DOJ action, Vera was blindsided again—this time by DOGE. On Friday, April 11, the agency’s staffer Nate Cavanaugh demanded a meeting and warned that failure to respond would be taken as noncompliance with a presidential directive. The threat was delivered after business hours and gave Vera only one business day to respond.
When the meeting took place on April 15, DOGE officials appeared unaware that Vera’s DOJ funding had already been cut. Once informed, they quietly rescinded the plan to assign a DOGE “oversight team” to the organization.
Vera’s legal team was left stunned. There is no legal or regulatory basis for DOGE oversight of independent nonprofits that do not hold federal contracts or operate under executive agency control. The move was, in Vera’s words, an escalation—part of a broader pattern of Trump administration efforts to undermine civil society.
“They’re trying to make examples of us,” Rahman said. “And it won’t stop here.”
The Vera Institute, founded in 1961, has long played a prominent role in shaping justice policy. Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, it has helped local and state governments build programs aimed at reducing incarceration, improving public health, and increasing fairness in the criminal legal system.
But under President Trump’s second term, criminal justice reform has become a convenient villain. The administration has leaned heavily into law-and-order rhetoric, branding reformers as “soft on crime” and using them as political foils in campaigns and fundraising appeals.
“This is what happens when public safety becomes weaponized,” Rahman said. “They want to make us look unsympathetic—paint us as radical leftists who care more about criminals than victims. But the truth is, our work is about real accountability. Our programs are designed to make communities safer, not less.”
Rahman warned that the narrative being built—that reform groups are inherently anti-police or anti-safety—is a dangerous distortion.
“When you talk to everyday people, they understand what we’re doing. They want mental health responders. They want survivors of crime to be supported. They want prisons to be safe. That’s what we’re fighting for.”
Vera isn’t alone in experiencing political retribution under Trump 2.0. The administration has already taken steps to defund academic institutions, climate advocacy organizations, and reproductive justice groups. Conservative media have cheered these moves as part of a broader crusade to dismantle the so-called “deep state” and purge institutions they view as ideologically hostile.
Norman Ornstein, a longtime congressional observer at the American Enterprise Institute, said prior administrations’ lack of responsiveness has frustrated lawmakers too. But he’s never seen one so thoroughly brush off Congress.
“What’s clear now is that the message from Donald Trump and his minions is: ‘You don’t have to respond to these people, whether they are ours or not,’” Ornstein said, referring to Republicans and Democrats. “That’s not usual. Nothing about this is usual.”
Vera is already appealing the DOJ decision and is exploring legal options to challenge both the defunding and the attempted DOGE oversight.
Nick Turner, president of the Vera Institute, has pledged that the organization’s work will continue.
“We are not going away,” Turner said in a statement. “We’re going to keep doing the work, and we’re going to keep speaking out.”
As Rahman sees it, the stakes go beyond Vera.
“This isn’t just about us,” she said. “This is about the right of nonprofits, civil society organizations, and community leaders to speak freely without fear of government retaliation. It’s about the First Amendment. It’s about democracy.”
And for those watching from the sidelines, Rahman has a message:
“Don’t wait until they come for your sector, your organization, your voice. What’s happening to us is just the beginning.”
