Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, urged the Senate in December 2024 to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general, and in April 2025 her Justice Department ended crime-prevention grants initially valued at about $820 million, including money for a Houston mentoring program that had to reduce its staff and for police and mental-health co-responder teams in Texas.
Paxton also urged Kash Patel's confirmation as FBI director, and under Patel thousands of FBI staff were moved to immigration work in 2025. In July 2025 Paxton praised the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which bars its new Justice Department police money from going to community violence intervention programs.
Ken Paxton's Statements on the Officials and Law Behind the Crime-Prevention Cuts
- Paxton Urged Pam Bondi's Confirmation; Her Justice Department Ended Crime-Prevention Grants in Texas. On December 3, 2024, Ken Paxton signed a letter of attorneys general urging the Senate to swiftly confirm Pam Bondi as the next United States Attorney General, calling her "a superb choice to serve our nation and the public interest." In April 2025, Bondi's Justice Department terminated competitive grants that were initially valued at about $820 million, for violence intervention, victim services, youth and police programs. The administration eliminated funding for such programs in Mississippi, Texas, and Colorado, meaning police and mental-health co-responder teams, and ended a youth bullying and hate crime prevention curriculum taught by police officers in Texas, the Council on Criminal Justice found. A federal judge who dismissed the grantees' suit on jurisdiction grounds wrote that the cuts were likely to harm communities and individuals vulnerable to crime and violence. In 2025, gun prosecutions fell more than 10 percent in 40 of the nation's 94 federal districts, and 80 percent of the ATF's roughly 2,500 agents had been pulled into immigration task force work at some point, The Trace reported.
- Paxton Urged Kash Patel's Confirmation; 9,161 FBI Staff Worked on Immigration in 2025. On December 11, 2024, Ken Paxton joined the attorneys general of 24 states in urging Senate leaders to support Kash Patel's nomination for Director of the FBI, calling him "the man for the job." In total, 9,161 people at the FBI worked on immigration between Trump's inauguration and September 7, 2025, out of a total of 38,000 FBI employees, according to bureau records obtained by The Intercept. An ICE disclosure counted 2,840 out of 13,700 FBI special agents redirected to immigration work.
- Paxton Praised the Law That Bars Its New Police Money From Community Violence Programs. Ken Paxton posted on July 1, 2025 that the Senate-passed bill was "One step closer to massive tax cuts," and on July 3, 2025 that "President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is HISTORIC legislation." Section 100054 of the law gives the Justice Department $3.33 billion, including money for police grants, but says "No funds made available under this subsection shall be made available to community violence intervention and prevention initiative programs." The same section requires a state or city to be in full compliance, as determined by the Attorney General, with a federal immigration information-sharing law to receive the money. Bondi's Justice Department also rewrote its community violence grant program so that only city, county, and tribal governments are permitted to apply, shutting out the community groups that run the programs, The Trace reported.
What the Crime-Prevention Cuts Tied to Ken Paxton's Endorsements Mean for Texas
- Houston youth mentoring. The Teen and Police Service Academy, a mentoring program in Houston, had to reduce its staff after the Justice Department grant cuts; its co-founder told NPR, "We got hit pretty hard."
- Police programs. Texas lost Justice Department funding for police and mental-health co-responder teams and for an anti-bullying and hate crime prevention course taught by police officers in Texas, the Council on Criminal Justice found.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ken Paxton on Crime and public safety
What is Ken Paxton's record on crime and public safety under Trump?
Ken Paxton urged the Senate to confirm Pam Bondi, whose Justice Department ended hundreds of crime-prevention grants in April 2025, including Texas mentoring, co-responder and police-led youth programs. He urged Kash Patel's confirmation, and Patel's FBI moved thousands of staff to immigration work in 2025. He praised the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which bars its new police money from community violence intervention programs.
Did Ken Paxton support the Justice Department official who cut crime-prevention grants?
Yes. Ken Paxton signed the December 3, 2024 letter urging Pam Bondi's swift confirmation as attorney general. As of December 2025, of about 225 appeals by grantees whose awards were cut, only 35 grants had been restored, according to a letter from House Democrats citing Reuters.
How did the One Big Beautiful Bill Act change police funding?
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Ken Paxton praised gives the attorney general $3.33 billion for the Justice Department through September 30, 2029, including grants for violent crime and for immigration enforcement and removal efforts. It also creates a reimbursement fund of up to $3.5 billion for states and cities that arrest, detain and transport immigrants.
Last updated: 2026-10-25