By JACK BROOK and CLAUDIA LAUER, Associated Press

A deaf mother trying to escape her abusive husband came to a domestic violence shelter seeking help, but she couldn’t communicate fluently with American Sign Language.

Shelter workers contacted Activating Change, a group that can provide sign language interpreters who are trained to help people experiencing trauma. Over the course of the year in the shelter, the woman worked with the interpreter to file for divorce, gain custody of her children, heal with therapy, and find a job and housing.

“Our superpower is adaptability, and having access to services like Activating Change allows us to have that,” said Marjie George, developmental director at the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services shelter.

Activating Change, which helps people with disabilities navigate the criminal justice system, was one of hundreds of organizations that received a notice on April 22 that the Department of Justice was canceling grants they had received through the Office of Justice Programs. More than 350 grants initially worth more than $800 million were ended midstream, sparking layoffs and program closures.

Related Articles

Trump marks his first 100 days in office with a rally in Michigan, a state rocked by his tariffs

Mark Carney wins full term as Canada’s prime minister on anti-Trump platform

John M. Crisp: What I wish Rumeysa Ozturk could have learned in the US

Ross Douthat: Why is Trump struggling? His adminstration is too ‘black-pilled’

Trump administration launches race-based discrimination investigations against Harvard Law Review

The disabilities nonprofit had to lay off nearly half its 26 workers after the government canceled $3 million in direct grants, about $1 million of which had already been spent, and ended pass-through grants from other organizations.

Amy Solomon, former assistant attorney general who oversaw the Office of Justice Programs and now a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, called said the cuts touched on every aspect of the department’s portfolio.

“This is highly unusual,” Solomon said. “You expect any administration to have their own priorities, and to implement that in future budget years and with future awards. You would not expect it to be grants that have already been granted, obligated or awarded to be pulled back.”

The Office of Justice Programs typically awards nearly $4 billion in grants annually.

It was unclear how much money it would take back since some of the rescinded grants were initially awarded as far back as 2021. Grantees were locked out of the financial system a few days before they were due to be reimbursed for already completed work.

How the Justice Department planned to reallocate whatever money is returned was also unclear. Some came from dedicated pots of funding, including from the Victims of Crime Act, which collects fines and penalties in federal cases for programs serving crime victims.

A department spokesperson did not respond to questions about the cuts.

The cancellation notices noted that grant holders had 30 days to appeal. As of Friday, the department had reversed course on a handful of grants, restoring some funding.

Law enforcement priorities

The cancellation letters obtained by The Associated Press explained the cuts by saying the department had changed its priorities to focus on “more directly supporting certain law enforcement operations, combatting violent crime, protecting American children, and supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault.”

But advocates, researchers and leaders in criminal justice said many grants served those purposes. Some cuts seemed to target programs that were started by or were a priority under the Biden administration, such as grants for violence intervention programs. But others appeared to target priorities under Trump’s first administration, including elder abuse and financial exploitation.

While cities and law enforcement agencies largely escaped direct cuts, many are feeling the impacts of cancellations to partner programs.

In a scathing briefing Wednesday, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin noted nearly $13 million in ongoing program funding to the state was canceled.

“To say, ‘We’re going to cut programs that protect people from bias, that help people with opioid addiction, that keep guns off our streets’ — it’s irresponsible, it’s reckless, it’s dangerous, and it’s going to get people killed,” Platkin said.

The cancellations included funding for research organizations that create standards for training or data collection and provide resources for smaller law enforcement agencies.

Three grants to the Police Executive Research Forum were cut, including a study of police plans and responses to protests to develop practices for preventing civil disturbances. And the National Policing Institute lost grants that provided technical assistance to rural police departments and support for improving relationships between police and communities of color.

Mandated functions

A handful of the canceled grants paid for services intertwined with government functions mandated by law, including required audits under the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

Impact Justice, which lost millions, had created and managed the PREA Resource Center for more than a decade. The center has had a hand in nearly every aspect of the implementation and management of the federal regulations from the online audit platform, auditor certification, and developing trainings for auditors, prison officials and others.

“It’s a collaborative relationship, but we are the ones that execute the work and have the systems and maintain the systems,” said Michela Bowman, Vice President of Impact Justice and senior advisor to the PREA Resource Center.

She explained that the center designed and owns the audit software and data collection systems.

“I can’t tell you what the DOJ plans to do in the alternate,” said Alex Busansky, president and founder of Impact Justice.

Safety and victim services

Nonprofits that provide services to crime victims also lost grants. Advocates say many cuts will impact public safety, like the elimination of funding for the national crime victims hotline or the loss of a grant to the International Association of Forensic Nurses to provide technical assistance and training to SANE— Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners— in underserved areas.

“It’s very important for a survivor to be able to access a rape exam done by a SANE nurse. It’s vital,” said Ilse Knecht, director of policy and advocacy at The Joyful Heart Foundation, and who oversees the agency’s efforts to track and combat a national backlog in untested forensic rape kits.

Grants that directly address the backlog seemed to be safe for now, but she said services offered to survivors are essential.

“When we don’t keep this system that has been set up to keep victims safe and make them want to participate in the criminal justice system … we are really doing a disservice,” she added. “How is this helping public safety?”

For Activating Change, the cuts meant an immediate reduction in services. Its leaders rejected the idea their services don’t align with federal priorities.

“It is a catastrophic blow to our organization,” said Nancy Smith, the organization’s executive director. “But also to the safety net for people with disabilities and deaf people who’ve experienced violent crime in our country.”

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Atlanta woman whose house was wrongly raided by the FBI will go before the Supreme Court on Tuesday in a key case over when people can sue to try to hold federal law enforcement accountable.

Trina Martin’s lawyers are asking the justices to revive the lawsuit she filed after agents broke down her door before dawn in 2017, pointing guns at her then-boyfriend and terrifying her 7-year-old son.

The FBI team had meant to raid a different house down the street. They apologized and left, with the team leader later saying that his personal GPS had led him to the wrong place.

The government says judges shouldn’t be second-guessing decisions made in the heat of the moment and Martin can’t sue over what amounted to an honest mistake. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, tossing out the lawsuit in 2022.

Public interest groups from across the political spectrum urged the court to overturn the ruling, saying it differs from other courts around the country and its reasoning would severely narrow the legal path for people to try and hold federal law enforcement accountable in court.

By ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — World shares were mostly higher on Tuesday after U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed, quiet close at the start of a busy week of corporate earnings and economic data.

Germany’s DAX gained 0.7% to 22,421.79, while the CAC 40 was nearly unchanged at 7,571.68. Britain’s FTSE 100 also was holding steady at 8,416.80.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.3%.

In Asian trading, Tokyo’s markets were closed for a holiday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng picked up 0.2% to 22,008.11, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower, to 3,286.55.

In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 0.7% to 2,565.42. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9%, to 8,070.60.

Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1%, while the Sensex in India gained 0.3%.

Markets have gotten a respite from the sharp swings that had rocked them as hopes rose and fell that President Donald Trump may back down on his trade war.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Trump was preparing, following widespread speculation over the issue, to adjust his 25% tariffs on imports of autos and auto parts.

The Trump administration appears to have made little headway in finding a way forward with Beijing, with both sides insisting the other needs to make the first move. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking on CNBC, said he believed China wants a “de-escalation” in the trade war.

“I do have an escalation letter in my back pocket, and we’re very anxious not to have to use it.”

“Maybe they’ll call me one day,” Bessent told Fox news in a separate interview.

Trump has ordered increases in tariffs on Chinese exports that combined add up to 145%. China has struck back with import duties on U.S. goods of up to 125%, though it has exempted some items.

Many investors believe Trump’s tariffs could cause a recession if left unaltered.

On Monday, the S&P 500 inched up by 0.1%, extending its winning streak to a fifth day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%.

Mixed trading for some influential tech stocks ahead of their earnings reports this week pulled the S&P 500 back and forth between modest gains and losses for much of Monday.

Amazon fell 0.7%, Microsoft dipped 0.2%, Meta Platforms added 0.4% and Apple rose 0.4%.

Outside of Big Tech, executives from Caterpillar, Exxon Mobil and McDonald’s may also offer clues this week about how they’re seeing economic conditions play out. Several companies across industries have already slashed their estimates for upcoming profit or pulled their forecasts entirely because of uncertainty about what will happen with Trump’s tariffs.

A fear is that Trump’s on-again-off-again tariffs may be pushing households and businesses to alter their spending and freeze plans for long-term investment because of how quickly conditions can change, seemingly by the hour.

So far, economic reports seem to show the U.S. economy is still growing, though at a weaker pace. On Wednesday, economists expect a report to say U.S. economic growth slowed to a 0.8% annual rate in the first three months of this year, down from a 2.4% pace at the end of last year.

Most reports so far have focused on data from before Trump’s “Liberation Day” on April 2, when he announced tariffs that could affect imports from countries worldwide.

The most jarring economic data recently have come from surveys showing U.S. consumers are getting much more pessimistic about the economy’s future because of tariffs. The Conference Board’s latest reading on consumer confidence is due on Tuesday.

On Friday, a report on the U.S. jobs market which will show how many workers employers hired during all of April.

In other dealings early Tuesday, benchmark U.S. crude oil lost 73 cents to $61.32 per barrel. Brent crude gave up 76 cents to $64.03 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar bought 142.53 Japanese yen, up from 142.02 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1388 from $1.1422.

By WILL WEISSERT and JOEY CAPPELLETTI, Associated Press

WARREN, Mich. (AP) — President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Michigan on Tuesday to mark the first 100 days of his second term, staging his largest public event since returning to the White House in a state that has been especially rocked by his steep trade tariffs and combative attitude toward Canada.

Trump is making an afternoon visit to Selfridge Air National Guard Base for an announcement alongside Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. He’s expected to speak at a rally at Macomb Community College, north of Detroit, allowing him to revel in leading a sprint to upend government and social, political and foreign policy norms.

FILE – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gives a policy speech at an event, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

His Republican administration’s strict immigration polices have sent arrests for illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border plummeting, and government-slashing efforts led by billionaire adviser Elon Musk have shaken Washington to its core. Its protectionist import taxes imposed on America’s trade partners have also sought to reorder a global economy that the U.S. had painstakingly built and nurtured in the decades after World War II.

Trump has also championed sweeping U.S. expansionism, refusing to rule out military intervention in Greenland and Panama, suggesting that American developers could help convert the war-torn Gaza Strip into a Riviera-like resort and even suggesting annexation of Canada.

“I run the country and the world,” Trump told The Atlantic magazine in an interview. He told Time of his first 100 days, “I think that what I’m doing is exactly what I’ve campaigned on.”

That doesn’t mean it’s popular.

Only about 4 in 10 Americans approve of how Trump is handling the presidency, and his ratings on the economy and trade are lower than that. Additionally, 46% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s immigration policies, with about half of Americans saying he has “gone too far” when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the country illegally.

Just 33% of Americans, meanwhile, have a favorable view of Musk, the Tesla CEO and world’s richest person, and about half believe the administration has gone too far in working to pare back the government workforce.

“The bottom line for the first hundred days is, lots of damage being done to the fundamentals of our government,” said Max Stier, founding president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit dedicated to better government.

Stier noted that there’d been “a lot of interest in this idea of trying to make our government more efficient, and what we’ve seen instead is the most substantial destruction of our core governmental capabilities in history.”

Michigan was one of the battleground states Trump flipped from the Democratic column. But it’s also been deeply affected by his tariffs, including on new imported cars and auto parts.

President Donald Trump arrives to welcome the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles NFL football team to the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Michigan’s unemployment rate has risen for three straight months, including jumping 1.3% from March to reach 5.5%, according to state data. That’s among the highest in the nation, far exceeding the national average of 4.2%.

Automaker Stellantis halted production at plants in Canada and Mexico after Trump announced a 25% tariff on imported vehicles, temporarily laying off 900 U.S. employees. Industry groups have separately urged the White House to scrap plans for tariffs on imported auto parts, warning that doing so would raise prices on cars and could trigger “layoffs and bankruptcy.”

That seemingly would make the state an odd choice for Trump to hail his own accomplishments.

“I’m not sure that he is at all interested in doing the smart thing,” said Bernie Porn, a longtime Michigan pollster. “He is what I would call an in-your-face president. ‘This is what I’m going to do.’”

Trump is also visiting Selfridge, which was established after the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, and the community college campus in Warren. Both are near the Canadian border and home to many people with deep business and personal ties to that country.

Related Articles

John M. Crisp: What I wish Rumeysa Ozturk could have learned in the US

Ross Douthat: Why is Trump struggling? His adminstration is too ‘black-pilled’

Trump administration launches race-based discrimination investigations against Harvard Law Review

Bruce Yandle: Trump, like Twain’s cat, jumps from a hot stove

Noah Feldman: Here’s why the president keeps ignoring the law

“Michigan always feels very, very positively toward Canada,” said the pollster, who noted that its voters “can’t be reacting well to the kinds of things he’s done.”

Typically, presidents use the 100-day mark to launch multiple rallies. But Trump is doing only the Michigan stop before giving the commencement address at the University of Alabama on Thursday.

Administration officials say the Republican president is at his most effective staying at the White House, having meetings and speaking to reporters nearly every day. Indeed, Trump’s Macomb Community College speech will be one of the few large in-person crowds he’s addressed since Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.

Except for a trip to tour hurricane damage in North Carolina and wildfire devastation in Southern California and a Las Vegas speech that included briefly chatting with gamblers on a casino floor, Trump’s early months have been characterized by little domestic travel.

The exceptions have been flying most weekends to golf in Florida or attend sporting events, including the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500, where Trump relished the crowds but didn’t speak to them. The limited travel to see supporters is a major departure from his first term, when Trump held major rallies in Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky before celebrating 100 days in office with a Pennsylvania speech in 2017.

Also in the spotlight will be Whitmer, who is frequently mentioned as a future presidential candidate. Long a Trump critic, Whitmer has sought to find common ground with the president lately, visiting him at the White House and discussing the future of Selfridge specifically.

Whitmer is concerned about the A-10 aircraft stationed at the base being phased out, though Trump recently said he hoped to keep Selfridge “open, strong, thriving.”

The Michigan pollster noted that Whitmer has continued to criticize Trump on key issues like the environment. But, he added, “She does, I think, more so than a lot of other Democrats, realize that the guy’s in office, and it probably makes sense to try and — to the extent possible on those things where they agree — work together with him.”