The Trump administration has slashed Washington D.C.’s federal urban security funding by a staggering 44%, reducing its allocation from $45.2 million to $25.2 million for Fiscal Year 2025.
The cuts come just days after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the launch of the “Making D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force,” which will coordinate law enforcement efforts between agencies like the Metropolitan Police Department, U.S. Capitol Police, FBI, and DEA.
The funding reduction is part of a broader national adjustment under the Homeland Security Grant Program, administered by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), which falls under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Several other major urban centers, including New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Jersey City, are also seeing their urban security budgets trimmed.
📢Let’s be clear: Trump doesn’t give a damn about crime. He’s deploying the National Guard to DC (crime: ↓35% since 2023) while CUTTING the city’s security funding by 44%.
This is a stunt to distract from Epstein files & consolidate power. pic.twitter.com/ZVp60IOd2Q
— 🌊DayanaWest💙 (@DayanaWest8564) August 12, 2025
According to DHS officials, the changes reflect a strategic shift in addressing national security threats. The agency points to a move away from large-scale, coordinated terrorist plots, such as the 9/11 attacks, toward more frequent but smaller-scale assaults on soft targets and densely populated public spaces. As a result, DHS says it is redirecting resources to align with what it calls the “current threat landscape.”
Despite FEMA’s rationale, D.C. officials are likely to raise concerns, given the city’s unique status as the nation’s capital and frequent site of high-profile events and demonstrations. Among all U.S. cities affected by FEMA’s funding reductions, Washington D.C. received the steepest cut in percentage terms.
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