ICYMI: MI Congresswoman Haley Stevens Demands Answers From Trump’s DHS Over Department Cuts And Leadership Failures
Stevens’ letter demands answers regarding the qualifications of Trump’s appointee overseeing terrorism prevention efforts
WASHINGTON, D.C. – ICYMI: Haley Stevens sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, demanding answers from and sounding the alarm over DHS’s fading focus on domestic terrorism and the troubling, unqualified leadership at the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3).
Read more from theAxios and Michigan Advance:
Axios: Scoop: Dem probes Trump's 22-year-old terror prevention official
By: Andrew Solender
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) argued in a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that Fugate's role raises "troubling questions about whether DHS is taking the prevention of domestic terrorism seriously."
She wrote that his hiring, along with reported layoffs at his office, come "at a time when threats to public officials and democratic institutions are demonstrably increasing," pointing to the shooting of two Minnesota state legislators and their spouses.
In her letter, a copy of which was first obtained by Axios, Stevens asked Noem for an accounting of CP3's funding and staffing levels.
According to the ProPublica report, the office's staff has been reduced from 80 employees to fewer than 20.
"I urge you to take immediate steps to restore CP3's mission and ensure qualified leadership is in place to carry it out effectively," Stevens wrote.
By: Ben Solis
U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) on Wednesday questioned the Trump administration’s lack of focus on preventing domestic terrorism and politically motivated violence,
In a letter sent Wednesday to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Stevens said recent events, like the assassination of a Minnesota state legislator and her husband, show a broader pattern of political violence across the nation.
Stevens’ main concern was Noem’s department recently made significant cuts to staff and is no longer working to counter violent homegrown extremism.
Stevens’ concerns were amplified by news that the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, which is the main office for domestic terrorism prevention, was now being led by a staffer with barely a year of experience since graduating college and who was once investigated by police in Texas for harassment.
“The prevention of domestic terrorism is not optional – it is a core homeland security mandate, and one that the Michiganders I represent are concerned about,” Stevens said. “In a moment of rising extremism and political violence, DHS must be fully resourced and appropriately led to meet this challenge. I urge you to take immediate steps to restore CP3’s mission and ensure qualified leadership is in place to carry it out effectively.”
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