{"id":125833,"date":"2026-02-28T06:04:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T06:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/125833\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T06:04:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T06:04:26","slug":"nationwide-group-of-state-domestic-violence-coalitions-including-pennsylvania-files-legal-challenge-to-trumps-federal-funding-restrictions-for-survivors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/125833\/","title":{"rendered":"Nationwide Group of State Domestic Violence Coalitions, Including Pennsylvania, Files Legal Challenge to Trump’s Federal Funding Restrictions for Survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"

New filings announced<\/a> last week aim to stop the Trump administration from further restricting federal grant fund access meant to help crime victims and those suffering from domestic violence.<\/p>\n

Last July, 17 states joined Rhode Island in the lawsuit against the Trump administration over unlawfully restricting grant funds, Bucks County Beacon reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the filings, the coalition argues that the administration\u2019s new conditions exceed Department of Justice\u2019s\u00a0 authority, violate the Constitution, conflict with statutory requirements protecting communities in vulnerable situations and unlawfully leverage the threat of False Claims Act liability to pressure providers to alter their programming and speech,\u201d a Democracy Forward press release<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

The request to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island aims to block the Trump-Vance administration from enforcing unlawful new restrictions on grants issued to help victims of domestic violence and other crimes, the press release said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis administration continues to seek ways to deprive people and communities in vulnerable situations from accessing government services and vital funding that Congress saw fit to approve. This does not make anyone\u2019s lives better, and yet continues to traumatize service providers committed to serving those most in need,\u201d said Robin Thurson, legal director at Democracy Forward<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The amended complaint may be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The motion for temporary restraining order may be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach additional attempt by the federal government to restrict funding for these life-saving services \u2013 now weaponizing citizenship status to exclude survivors from receiving support \u2013 is as cruel and unlawful as the last. We will continue to use every legal avenue to defend this funding,\u201d said Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Locker, executive director of A Woman\u2019s Place in Doylestown Township previously said a July Bucks County Beacon report<\/a>, that about 76% of the organization\u2019s hotline and safe house funding is fueled by federal grants.<\/p>\n

READ: New Bucks County Sheriff Puts Community Safety First by Ending ICE \u2018Task Force Model\u2019 Partnership<\/a><\/p>\n

According to a previously published Bucks County Beacon report<\/a> Sheriff Danny Ceisler, who was sworn into office last month, said the danger domestic violence events pose to residents and deputies alike is among the \u201clargest issues any sheriff faces.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ceisler was voted in to replace ousted former Sheriff Fred Harran. During his campaign, Ceisler said Harran had moved the department away from performing its regular duties after signing<\/a> a controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement 287(g) \u201ctask force multiplier model\u201d and training more than a dozen deputies to serve as \u201cde facto\u201d ICE agents.<\/p>\n

\u201cFunding for victims of crime has supported lifesaving services for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors and strengthened communities nationwide. These grants help sustain shelters, crisis response services, legal assistance, prevention programs and coordinated community efforts that victims rely on in moments of profound danger. The administration\u2019s new restrictions threaten to undermine that work, create confusion and fear among providers and survivors alike and place critical resources at risk,\u201d the Democracy Forward press release said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New filings announced last week aim to stop the Trump administration from further restricting federal grant fund access…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-125833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-pennsylvania","9":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","10":"tag-pennsylvania-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}