Hochul: Trump 'defunding police' by withholding New York anti-terror funds

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is demanding that the Trump administration release tens of millions of dollars in withheld federal funding to help the state thwart acts of domestic terrorism and bolster security. On Tuesday, Hochul held a press briefing where she and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called on Homeland Security MarkWayne Mullin to provide an additional $87 million in congressionally approved grant money that had been cut from the state's annual allocation but later restored by President Donald Trump in a social media post. "By holding this funding hostage, the Trump Administration is defunding the police," Hochul, a Democrat, said in remarks Tuesday. "New York State continues to be the nation's number one terrorist target – and if President Trump and Secretary Mullin really care about public safety, they should stop playing games and fully fund our vital counterterrorism efforts." Mamdani, who joined Hochul at Tuesday's briefing, echoed the governor's demands and pointed out that the funds are being withheld as the city prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "At the very moment we should be working to straighten the systems that protect New Yorkers, the federal government is walking away from that responsibility," Mamdani, a democratic socialist, said in remarks. New York state saw its annual allocation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Homeland Security Grant Program cut by $187 million — an 86% reduction — as part of the Trump administration's cost-cutting efforts. But Trump in September pledged on social media that he would restore "full" Homeland Security Grant Program funding to his former home state, a reversal that Hochul said Tuesday came after "dogged advocacy" on her part. The program, which was approved by Congress in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, distributed more than $1 billion in funding to states in the previous fiscal year, according to Homeland Security. That includes about $81 million for "Operation Stonegarden" which provides funding to states on the Mexico and Canadian borders to address illegal immigration and transnational drug trafficking. New York received about $220 million from that program in the previous fiscal year, with a large chunk going to law enforcement agencies in New York City and its suburbs, according to the Hochul administration. The funding has helped New York pay for National Guard members to patrol subways in New York and for synagogues, mosques, churches, and other houses of worship to harden their infrastructure and security protocols. Hochul had made previous demands of Mullin's predecessor, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who stepped down in March amid questions about her spending in the agency. Last October, Attorney General Letitia James sued DHS and FEMA over the $33.8 million in cuts from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Rail and Transit Security Grant Program. The program was created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks to protect the nation's transit systems from chemical, biological, radiological and explosive threats. Federal officials stated in court filings that the MTA lost its funding because New York City is designated as a "sanctuary jurisdiction" for "illegal" immigrants. The cuts were blocked by a ruling from U.S. District Court judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who issued a permanent injunction blocking the move he called "arbitrary, capricious, and a blatant violation of the law."