Larry Krasner’s office has signed onto an amicus brief that seeks to reverse DOGE cuts to public safety.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office recently announced that it has signed onto an amicus brief that seeks to have the courts reverse Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts to public safety under the Trump administration.
In April, more than $820 million in funding was suspended by the Department of Justice. This impacted more than 370 grants that were dedicated to public safety, including ones related to violence intervention, law enforcement, victim support services, and research.
The efforts come as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration and DOGE to decrease spending by the federal government and root out waste, fraud, and abuse that is occurring within government agencies.
“The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is proud to join over a dozen other prosecutors from around the country in pushing back against President Donald Trump’s and billionaire Elon Musk’s wildly inappropriate and draconian cuts to federal public safety and victim services funding. These cuts only serve to erode public safety in our communities by impacting the community-based groups, police, and prosecutorial authorities who work every day to reduce violence and address the needs of crime survivors,” Krasner said in a press release.
“My office recently signed onto an amicus brief filed by the Public Rights Project in support of a lawsuit filed by the Vera Institute and three other plaintiffs against the Justice Department, seeking judicial intervention to reverse these cuts and reinstate the $820 million in critical support for violence intervention and other community safety initiatives, programming for law enforcement and prosecution, victim support services, and scientific studies into public safety,” he continued.
At the time cuts were made by the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the department was rescinding grants “that do not align with the administration’s priorities.”
The four grants impacted in the Philadelphia region were worth $5.4 million collectively when they were first awarded. They included $2.3 million for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for school safety research and evaluation.
Another local grant of $1 million for a community-based crime reduction program at Village of Arts and Humanities, Inc. was impacted. A $600,000 grant for the Pennsylvania Innocence Project’s work exonerating wrongly convicted prisoners made the list as well.
“Public safety requires that my office, in partnership with other justice leaders and jurisdictions, will continue to push back against the Trump administration’s dangerous and unlawful behavior whenever appropriate,” said Krasner.
Krasner signed onto the brief as he runs for a third term in office, vowing to fight against the Trump administration and referring to the president as a “wannabe dictator.”
