Justice Department moving forward with grant office changes

Ryan Tarinelli, CQ-Roll Call on Jun 5, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has outlined plans to start the consolidation of three key grant components in September, as part of a reorganization effort that has raised concern from advocates and drawn the attention of at least one senator.

The department held a stakeholder briefing Thursday morning where they outlined a rough timeline for consolidating the offices — the Office on Violence Against Women, the Office of Justice Programs and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, according to four participants on the call.

The Trump administration, in a fiscal 2027 budget document, said the department plans to consolidate the three grant components into a new single component named the Bureau of Justice Grants.

At Thursday’s meeting, stakeholders were shown a slide that showed June would be for stakeholder briefings, and June and July would be used to “account for stakeholder feedback,” according to call participants and pictures of the presentation obtained by CQ-Roll Call.

For July and August, the slide said: “Seek OMB approval then notify Congress.” And in September, “begin executing consolidation.”

One of the department presenters on the call said the DOJ will receive OMB approval and continue to update Congress of their consolidation plans, according to one participant.

That language is sparking concern among advocates that the department will go forward with the consolidation regardless of congressional approval.

A subsection of law requires OVW to be “a separate and distinct office” within the DOJ, with a director who reports to the attorney general and has “final authority over all grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts awarded by the Office.”

Congress passed a provision establishing the office’s separate status in the 2000s, according to a department website. And in a 2022 law, Congress strengthened the provision by adding language that stipulated the OVW shall be “not subsumed by any other office.”

Rosie Hidalgo, a former director of the Office on Violence Against Women who served under the Biden administration, said it would be contrary to federal law for the Justice Department to only “notify Congress” of such a change, when it’s Congress that would need to approve of the changes by amending the Violence Against Women Act.

“It is very concerning that the Department of Justice is taking steps to dismantle the functions and structure of the Office on Violence Against Women, contrary to the clear statutory language for the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that was enacted by Congress,” Hidalgo wrote in an email.

Consolidating OVW and bringing it under a new office would be contrary to legislation passed by Congress, she said, pointing to statutory language that says OVW must be a separate and distinct office and one “not subsumed by any other office.”

A department spokesperson, in a statement, said the department intends to comply with all “congressional notification and statutory requirements” before implementing the consolidation.

“This consolidated grants entity will maintain the integrity and functionality of OJP, COPS, and OVW while simultaneously reducing bureaucracy and red tape,” the spokesperson said.

Last year, the Trump administration proposed consolidating OVW and the COPS office into the Office of Justice Programs.

But Congress rejected that consolidation and pushed back by inserting language in a report that accompanied a final fiscal 2026 budget bill.

The report language directed the department “to maintain the Office on Violence Against Women and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services as distinct organizational grantmaking entities within the Department.”

And in the fiscal 2027 appropriations cycle, a report tied to a Republican-backed funding bill in the House directs the DOJ to maintain OVW and the COPS office “as distinct organizational grantmaking entities” within the DOJ.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has argued the department will create administrative efficiencies by consolidating the offices, providing grantees with greater access to the full scope of department grant funding.

Blanche, during a budget hearing last month on Capitol Hill, told lawmakers the offices would still maintain their own independence and brand.

Still, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, turned attention to a statutory provision protecting OVW.

“We provide that OVW may not be subsumed by another grant making component within DOJ,” Murkowski told Blanche. “So, we want to make sure that, again, DOJ is going to maintain OVW’s statutory responsibilities and how they move forward with their grant making.”

“We will and we’re aware of that. Yes, ma’am,” Blanche responded.