*

Some $811 million in grants targeted, some cuts later

reversed

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White House says DOGE staffer Makecha's actions were

approved by

DOJ leadership

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Grant recipients confused, saddened by cuts

By Sarah N. Lynch and Peter Eisler

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - A member of Elon Musk's

U.S. Department of Government Efficiency helped steer the

Justice Department's April termination of more than $811 million

in grants, including funding for Trump administration priorities

such as aid to crime victims and police, according to a document

and a person familiar with the matter.

Tarak Makecha, a former employee of Musk's Tesla,

is listed as the author of a DOJ spreadsheet that detailed the

365 targeted grants, according to a copy of the document viewed

by Reuters.

Makecha created the list without consulting program managers

at the department's Office of Justice Programs, its largest

grant-making arm, though he had questioned employees about the

grant process, according to interviews with grantees and others

with knowledge of the process.

The list was not initially provided to managers of the grant

programs, many of whom learned about the cuts from grantees who

received termination letters, according to multiple grantees and

others with knowledge of the process.

A White House official told Reuters that all of Makecha's

actions were approved by DOJ leadership. A Justice Department

spokesperson declined to comment and Makecha did not respond to

requests for comment.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has said she authorized cuts to

programs that did not align with President Donald Trump's

priorities to assist law enforcement, combat violent crime,

protect children and support victims of violence and sexual

assault.

But many of the terminated grants appeared to align with

those priorities, and some cuts were quickly reversed after

Reuters reported on them.

Tapped by Trump to carry out a massive campaign of

government cuts, Musk's DOGE has moved at great speed, in some

cases causing chaos within the government, and in others firing

then rehiring the same workers.

The Intercept previously reported that Makecha started doing

work on the grant programs in late March.

'VERY CONFUSING AND VERY SAD'

The DOJ has restored at least seven of the grants that were

cut, including funding for pet-friendly domestic violence

shelters and crisis hotlines.

But the majority remain terminated, and grantees have 30

days to appeal.

One terminated grant, $8.3 million to the National Policing

Institute, funded rural police departments and district

attorneys' offices, including many in regions where Trump has

had strong support. It helped pay for automated license plate

readers, violent crime investigators and programs to combat

child sexual abuse, according to a list seen by Reuters.

Police Chief Justin Holliday of Lyons, Kansas, said his

department just started using grant funds to pay for the new

Rice County Child Advocacy Center, where the executive director

conducted forensic interviews of child sex abuse victims.

Braeley Hammeke, that director, said Rice County has a

population of about 10,000 and the center has received referrals

for 28 kids since it opened in November.

"I feel that the work we do falls in line with all of the

priorities," said Hammeke. "It's very confusing and very sad."

Funding was also cut for a police officer embedded in the

district attorney's office in Union County, Oregon. That officer

has been the only person working on homicide cold cases and

negligent homicide investigations against drug dealers for

fentanyl overdoses, said District Attorney Kelsie Davis

McDaniel.

"We were really optimistic that this funding would continue

in the future," she said.

The National Policing Institute declined to comment, saying

it did not know DOJ's rationale.

In an April 23 post on X, Bondi touted examples of "wasteful

grants," including a $2 million grant to fund "national

listening sessions of individuals with lived experience." DOGE

later shared her post, saying "Great work."

That $2 million grant trained prosecutors to investigate

child abuse in juvenile detention facilities, youth correctional

facilities or group homes, according to Makecha's list. The

listening sessions allowed prosecutors to hear directly from

youth abuse victims.

The Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, which won the

award, did not respond to requests for comment.

DOJ employees have been flooded with calls and emails from

cut-off grant recipients, some of whom have already had to fire

employees, one person briefed on the matter told Reuters.

Staff were provided a script for speaking with grantees who

may get "confrontational," a copy seen by Reuters showed.

Since then, the DOJ's Office on Community Oriented Policing

Services started soliciting applications for new grants. One

solicitation said that local governments that mandate COVID-19

vaccines in schools, promote gender ideology or have "failed to

protect public monuments" from vandalism would not be eligible.