BUDGET/DHS/TERRORISM/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration has proposed sharp cuts to programs that seek to prevent domestic terrorism and prepare localities to respond — a move that has come under increased scrutiny by critics in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
The Department of Homeland Security says, however, that it is merely re-working the administration’s efforts, and promises more effective measures to come.
While the motives remain unknown in Sunday night’s Law Vegas shooting that killed at least 59 people and injured more than 500, the event immediately raised questions about domestic terrorism and whether it is a case of home-grown extremism.
President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget proposal included steep cuts to a number of grant programs run by the Department of Homeland Security that go toward terrorism and violent extremism preparedness and prevention. All told, more than $300 million is slated to be cut from such programs.
The administration has also folded two counter-terror grant programs altogether, and is in the process of rebranding the Obama administration’s Countering Violent Extremism office.
A senior DHS official disputed the notion that the administration was retreating from the effort, though, saying a new strategy is forthcoming.”
-Tal Kopan, “Domestic terrorism programs would be cut under Trump,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, Oct. 2, 2017 09:06pm