House Appropriations Committee proposes $305 million for nonprofit security grants
The proposal matches the program’s 2023 funding level, which lawmakers and Jewish advocacy groups called insufficient at the time
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
A law enforcement vehicle sits near the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue on January 16, 2022 in Colleyville, Texas.
The House Appropriations Committee’s draft 2026 Homeland Security funding bill includes $305 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, a marginal increase that would restore the program to its 2023 funding levels.
But lawmakers and Jewish advocacy groups at the time — well before antisemitism skyrocketed following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, the ensuing war in Gaza and the recent series of antisemitic terrorist attacks in the United States — called that funding level insufficient. At the time, the funding fell well short of meeting demand, which has increased significantly since then.
In 2024 and 2025, the program received $274.5 million, supplemented by $400 million split across the two years from the national security supplemental bill passed in 2024.
In 2023, the program received a total of 5,257 applications, requesting a total of $679 million in funding. Just 42% were approved. Demand increased significantly in 2024 — 7,584 applications were submitted, totaling nearly $1 billion in funding requested. Forty-three percent of applications were approved, with $454.5 million available between annual appropriations and the supplemental.
Bipartisan groups of supporters in the House and Senate have been pushing for $500 million for the program for 2026, while many Jewish groups called for funding to be increased to $1 billion following the shooting of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish communal event in Washington in May.
The House’s proposal does, however, deviate from the administration’s request for flat funding — $274.5 million — for the program, indicating some interest from House Republicans in providing additional support for the program.
The House Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security Subcommittee will meet to debate and vote on the bill Monday evening, and the full committee will debate and vote on it Thursday morning.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told Jewish Insider last week that he plans to launch an “all-out push” on Monday for $500 million for the program. He said that Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee, who will release their own draft bill, “seemed open to it.”
With both chambers of Congress and the White House controlled by Republicans, Schumer’s voice may have limited impact in the process.