As antisemitic incidents continue to roil Jewish communities nationwide, Jewish Federations of North America CEO Eric Fingerhut called on Congress to increase funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $1 billion annually and to “make the program more flexible and simpler to use.”   

Fingerhut also called on governors to support an educational tax credit on Thursday during JFNA’s inaugural “State of the Jewish Union” address at the organization’s Washington headquarters.

Fingerhut urged lawmakers to provide federal support for security personnel so that schools and synagogues don’t need to cover the costs; expand the FBI’s capabilities to detect and disrupt domestic terrorism; increase support for state and local law enforcement protecting Jewish institutions; hold social media companies accountable for antisemitic hate and incitement to violence through their platforms; and prosecute hate crimes “aggressively.”

The call for increased security comes as American Jews have faced several high-profile hate crimes in the past year, including the recent arson attack at Mississippi’s largest synagogue. Less than two weeks after the attack on Congregation Beth Israel in Jackson, ​​Congress put forward a budget of $300 million for NSGP for 2026. While that figure is a small increase from the funding provided in 2024 and 2025, it is lower than the allocations initially proposed by both the House and Senate and the amount requested by Jewish leaders. 

American Jews have responded to the increase of hate and the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in what JFNA coined as “the surge,” describing a rise in Jews engaging or seeking to engage more in communal life. 

According to the organization, enrollment in Jewish schools and camps remains high. “This is why we strongly support the new federal education scholarship tax credit and urge all 50 states to opt in so the funds can reach the families and schools in every community,” Fingerhut said on Thursday. 

JFNA confirmed to Jewish Insider that the group plans to hold sideline meetings with state leaders on Friday during the National Governors Association summit in Washington to encourage Democratic governors to participate in the education tax credit, which would create supplemental funding for scholarships for Jewish day school and yeshiva education. 

Though the anti-Israel encampments and disruptive protests that plagued college campuses in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7 and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war have largely died down, a larger percentage of Jewish college students report having experienced antisemitism than ever before. Fingerhut encouraged passage of the bipartisan Protecting Students on Campus Act, which would require federally funded colleges and universities to inform students of their civil rights under Title VI and provide accessible information on how to file discrimination complaints.       

“The state of the Jewish union in America is strong, but it is being tested,” said Fingerhut. “We are united in our commitment to America and to Jewish life, even as we worry about the real threats of violence and the growing acceptance of antisemitic rhetoric.”

Following Fingerhut’s address, three heads of local federations shared challenges in addressing security and social needs in their communities. Rabbi Noah Farkas, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles; Scott Kaufman, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation; and Miryam Rosenzweig, president and CEO of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation echoed that — despite varying degrees of antisemitism in their communities — there is a significant “antisemitism tax,” an increased financial burden to protect Jewish institutions. 

“Every dollar we’re spending [on security] we can’t spend on the ‘joy’ part of being Jewish,” said Kaufman.  

A bipartisan group of 82 House lawmakers wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday urging her to roll back new conditions placed on applications for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program amid rising antisemitic attacks.

The bipartisan support for the letter is particularly notable given that, while Democrats have been raising concerns about the conditions for months, Republicans have, publicly, been comparatively quiet.

“We are writing to you today to express our desire to ensure that the NSGP is adequately funded and unimpeded by new requirements that are unrelated to the security of grant recipients and their communities,” the letter, led by Reps. Max Miller (R-OH), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Michael McCaul (R-TX), reads. “Insufficient funding or unnecessary obstacles to obtaining grants could undermine the right of every religious community to freely and peacefully worship and congregate without fear.”

The letter states that new conditions issued by DHS in April 2025 “create new compliance requirements for recipients that will divert limited funds and restrict the religious conscience of synagogues, schools, and other institutions pivotal to our communities.”

The new conditions may compel religious institutions to cooperate with immigration enforcement activities and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

“We encourage DHS to work to make compliance with NSGP requirements as simple and streamlined as possible. We also request that DHS ensures NSGP remains a program designed to protect the security of houses of worship, not to reinforce other policy priorities,” the lawmakers wrote. “In this time of rising antisemitic terror attacks and violence against diverse faith-based institutions, we believe it is crucial that NSGP remains a critical resource for all who seek to worship in safety and free from partisan politicization.”

They called on Noem to issue new guidance that “waives any terms and conditions that do not directly relate to the grant’s purpose, which is to help qualified institutions improve their security against increasing threats.”

The lawmakers emphasized the clear need for and lifesaving impact of NSGP funds in a time of increased hate-motivated violence. They also thanked Noem for her “ongoing support” for the program.

DHS has not yet awarded grants from the 2025 grant cycle, and lawmakers have accused the administration of withholding critical information about which institutions have received funding under separate grant rounds. Democrats have alleged the department is mismanaging the program.

Funding for the grants in 2026 — thought to be finalized just weeks ago — was again thrown into question last week when lawmakers agreed to reopen negotiations over the Department of Homeland Security funding package for the year following the deadly shootings by immigration agents of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.

“The Nonprofit Security Grant Program is one of the most vital programs protecting the Jewish community. We continue to encourage every Jewish institution with heightened security needs to apply for these funds,” Jewish Federations of North America CEO Eric Fingerhut said. “We have also heard from our community that the current terms and conditions have had the unintended effect of deterring some organizations from applying, which is why we believe they should be updated appropriately.”

“At a time of rising violence and hatred targeting houses of worship, NSGP is an essential lifeline for synagogues and other faith-based institutions seeking to protect their congregants,” said Lauren Wolman, ADL’s senior director of government relations and strategy. “We are grateful for the bipartisan effort to ensure DHS requirements remain clear, consistent, and focused on what matters most — helping at-risk nonprofits protect themselves from threats. Organizations must be able to access these resources quickly, with confidence, and without unnecessary delays.”

“Jewish and other communities facing violent threats deserve to know that the government is prioritizing their safety, not politicizing it,” Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said. “Yet the chaos created by these new terms and conditions has only created more vulnerability for communities, who are worried that they’ll be forced to choose between their core religious beliefs and their basic security — a concern we’ve been raising for months.” 

“We appreciate Reps. Miller and Gottheimer for helping lead this important bipartisan call to clarify that NSGP should not be used for anything other than the security of our communities,” Spitalnick continued.

With worshippers at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss., still reeling from a Jan. 10 arson attack that severely damaged the historic synagogue, Congress appears poised to provide $300 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program for 2026, a small boost from the funding provided in 2024 and 2025.

But that figure is lower than the allocations initially proposed by both the House and Senate, even as antisemitic events, such as the arson in Jackson, continue to rock the Jewish community. And it is significantly less than the target level of $500 million to $1 billion for the program requested by congressional advocates and Jewish groups.

Lauren Wolman, senior director of government relations and strategy at the Anti-Defamation League, said the allocation “acknowledges the very real threats facing houses of worship and other at-risk nonprofits.”

“But [the $300 million] falls far short of what is needed and represents a step back from the bipartisan funding levels previously secured in both chambers,” Wolman continued. “Demand for NSGP continues to dramatically outpace available resources, and underfunding this program leaves vulnerable communities exposed. We will continue working with Congress to secure increased funding in the next funding cycle to ensure at-risk communities have the protection they need.”

The funding, part of the Homeland Security budget, may also suffer from additional friction amid Democratic opposition to the package, linked to concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations throughout the country. It is not yet guaranteed that the package will actually pass, with key Democrats, including Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security Subcommittee, announcing their opposition to the bill. 

The program was funded at $274.5 million in both 2024 and 2025, with an extra infusion of $400 million as part of the 2024 National Security Supplemental bill. In 2024, the $274.5 million allocation funded just 43% of applications, which totaled nearly $1 billion in funding requested. The 2025 funding still has not been distributed amid ongoing delays at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the program.

The House voted last year to approve a 2026 funding bill with $335 million for the program, while Senate Republicans proposed $330 million. The final level of $300 million is just shy of the $305 million provided in 2023, the highest annual funding level ever provided for the program. That $305 million covered 42% of applications — before the post Oct. 7, 2023, global surge in antisemitism.

Jewish groups that advocate for the NSGP praised the allocation while also saying that they would continue to fight in future years for additional funding to meet the community’s full needs. Some noted that the funding boost was particularly significant at a time when DHS is overshooting budget targets and funding for many DHS grant programs is being significantly constrained.

Nathan Diament, the executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, said that the $300 million “is not the overall number we were pushing for, but in the context of the DHS bill being more than $1 billion over their topline number, and lots of other things getting cut … we got an increase for NSGP. It’s a result we can work with.”

Diament also noted that the OU hopes that the funding for the NSGP can “go further” this year with $5 million in Justice Department grant funding earmarked to support local law enforcement in protecting religious facilities, funds he said will relieve expenses that communities have traditionally paid out of pocket to off-duty police to protect their institutions.

He also noted that if the bill fails to pass, there could be opportunities for further negotiations on the NSGP funding.

Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, said that the funding boost over 2024 and 2025 “is an important step in the right direction.”

“Still, threats to the Jewish community are more frequent, visible, and normalized than ever before, and while Federations invest heavily in our communal safety, the cost for securing our community alone stands at an estimated $775 million a year. We look forward to working with Congress to use any vehicle possible to further increase funding for this life-saving program,” Fingerhut continued.

Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), co-chairs of the Senate task force on combatting antisemitism, proposed that the Senate advance a package of legislation to protect religious communities, including supplemental funding for the NSGP.

Michael Masters, CEO of the Secure Community Network, said SCN is “pleased to see renewed funding for this program, alongside critical funding for law enforcement and public safety through the State Homeland Security and Urban Areas Security Initiative programs. With recent attacks on Jewish museums, events, and synagogues, these programs are vital to allowing people of faith to gather in peace.”

“Continued investment in the Nonprofit Security Grant Program — which has allowed for life-saving physical security solutions to be installed in houses of worship, schools, and community centers — is critical to the safety of the Jewish community, faith communities, and nonprofits throughout the country,” Masters continued.

Rabbi Avi Schnall, director of federal education affairs for Agudath Israel of America, said that Agudath Israel is “happy that the [NSGP continues] to be funded. We look to the future and feel as if a much greater amount needs to be allocated.”

He continued: “$300 million is an improvement from last year’s $274.5 million, but it falls very short of the $500 million ask that’s been brought up by [Senate] Minority Leader [Chuck] Schumer (D-NY) and others over the last couple of years. And we’re hopeful, as Congress resumes the negotiations for the next budget, that hopefully a significant increase will be included in that one. As hate incidents in general … increase, and particularly in the Jewish community that’s seeing an unprecedented increase in attacks, now’s the time to increase protection and prevention more than ever.”

Schnall said Agudath Israel “look[s] forward to working with Congress to ensure that future budgets [reflect] the needs of the broader community.”

The explanatory report accompanying the Homeland Security funding bill also instructs the administration to release a report within 90 days on how DHS is implementing the Trump administration’s executive order on antisemitism and the U.S. national strategy on antisemitism, formulated under the Biden administration.

The Homeland Security funding package was also paired with the 2026 defense funding package, which includes $500 million for cooperative missile defense programs with Israel, as expected under the U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding, as well as increased funding for other cooperative programs such as $80 million for the counter-tunneling program, $75 million for counter drone and directed energy programs and $47.5 million for developing military applications of emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing.

The members of the Congressional Jewish Caucus — every Jewish House Democrat — wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Wednesday urging her to rescind new conditions — presumably related to immigration enforcement and diversity programs — instituted earlier this year on recipients of Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding.

“We are writing to you today to express our strong desire to ensure that the NSGP is adequately funded and unimpeded by new requirements that are unrelated to the security of grant recipients and their communities,” the letter reads. “Insufficient funding or unnecessary obstacles to obtaining grants could undermine the right of every religious community to freely and peacefully worship and congregate without fear.”

The lawmakers charge that new conditions for the grant program promulgated in April “create onerous new compliance requirements for recipients that will divert limited funds and restrict the religious conscience of synagogues, schools, and other institutions pivotal to our community,” and call on Noem to issue new guidance waiving any terms “that do not directly relate to the grant’s purpose, which is to help qualified institutions improve their security against increasing threats.”

The letter does not directly spell out which conditions the lawmakers are addressing, but congressional Democrats and some in the Jewish community have previously raised concerns about new language in some grant materials indicating that grants may be contingent on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and eliminating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.

“[W]e reject any efforts to force Jewish and other houses of worship and institutions to choose between vital security funding and expression of their core religious freedoms, as well as their faith teachings and values,” the lawmakers wrote. “In this time of increased hate crimes against minorities, and in particular rising antisemitism, we believe it is crucial that NSGP remains a critical resource accessible to all communities in need and free from partisan politicization.”

The lawmakers also emphasized that members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have supported a “streamlined, effective program with minimal red tape and compliance requirements.”

The letter was signed by Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Brad Schneider (D-IL), the co-chairs of the Jewish caucus, and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Becca Balint (D-VT), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Mike Levin (D-CA), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Greg Landsman (D-OH) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).

“The Nonprofit Security Grant Program has been a lifeline as we face rising antisemitism, hate, and extremism — but these politically-motivated grant requirements threaten to force our communities to choose between their safety and their core religious values,” Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO  Amy Spitalnick said in a statement about the letter, which specifically referenced the immigration and DEI language. “The fact is that the NSGP is simply too important to be politicized to advance the administration’s agenda..”

JCPA has previously urged the administration directly to repeal the conditions.

A coalition of major Jewish communal and security organizations, including the Jewish Federations of North America, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Anti-Defamation League, Secure Community Network, Community Security Initiative and Community Security Service issued a joint statement in September urging institutions to apply for the grants in spite of any concerns that they may have about the new criteria.

Going into 2026, Jewish community groups say their advocacy priorities for Congress and the federal government remain largely consistent, with a focus across many of the major advocacy organizations on bolstering community security through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and tackling antisemitism online.

While Congress has increased its attention to Jewish communal issues in the years since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, including a string of high-profile hearings on antisemitism and several bills passed to support Israel and combat Iran, many key legislative priorities for the Jewish community — including bills on antisemitism and substantial increases to annual security funding for nonprofits — have remained stubbornly intractable.

Highlighting the expansion of congressional scrutiny of unions, academic associations and tech platforms for their fostering of antisemitism, top Anti-Defamation League officials said that advocating for such oversight work will remain a priority in the coming year, particularly in an environment in which it is difficult to pass any legislation, regardless of the subject.

“We’ll continue focusing on tough oversight, on bipartisan legislation and targeted appropriations,” Lauren Wolman, the ADL’s senior director of government relations and strategy, told Jewish Insider. “The big buckets are that we’ll be pushing Congress to confront antisemitism wherever it appears, including within one’s own party; protecting houses of worship with increased security funding; demanding real transparency and accountability from tech platforms; advancing comprehensive federal legislation to counter antisemitism and taking action to ensure that Jewish students are safe on campus.”

Asked about how the organization plans to ensure progress on legislation that has been difficult to achieve in past years, Wolman emphasized that there had been “historic momentum” this year for increased security funding, and said that ADL would “focus on levers that move policy, so oversight, legislation, appropriations” and leverage “the value of transparency, bipartisanship and coalitions.”

Max Sevillia, the ADL’s senior vice president of national affairs, said that the organization will focus on must-pass legislation such as appropriations and the National Defense Authorization Act, and emphasized that “legislating on any issue, including fighting antisemitism, oftentimes, is not a one-session effort. So we don’t give up on our priorities.”

He said that, even if major legislation did not pass this session, the group is “better positioned” to advance key priorities with the additional attention they’ve received since Oct. 7.

Sevillia said that the HEAL Act, examining Holocaust education; the Protecting Students on Campus Act, which aims to facilitate Title VI discrimination complaints; and the Pray Safe Act, which would create a central database of security resources for institutions, will remain priority bills in the new year. 

ADL is also supporting the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act (PATA), a bipartisan Senate bill that would require social media companies to share additional data with the public and with researchers, including regarding hate incidents and policies, and how platforms are responding to them.

“Congress really needs to require platforms to provide meaningful transparency into content moderation practices, algorithmic amplification and enforcement of their hate speech policies,” Wolman said.

Wolman said the ADL also continues to pursue a “comprehensive … whole-of-government” package of legislation on antisemitism, a prospect that has remained elusive. The Countering Antisemitism Act, a package along those lines, received bipartisan support in the previous Congress, but ultimately proved unwieldy — facing opposition on both sides of the aisle in both chambers.

Wolman said that ADL will be pressing Congress to focus on college campuses, K-12 education, academic professional associations, health care and technology platforms, including Wikipedia and artificial intelligence, in its oversight capacity and for potential hearings next year.

Sitting down with JI on Capitol Hill earlier this month, American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch said that his organization’s priorities for the remainder of 2025 included urging lawmakers to stand with the Jewish community and attend menorah lightings in the wake of the Sydney, Australia, shooting targeting a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach.

Going into 2026, the group is also focused on pressing lawmakers to tackle antisemitism online, particularly ensuring social media companies are addressing the foreign actors driving much of that content, as well as the antisemitism that has proliferated in AI-generated posts.

The new X policy disclosing users’ locations “confirm[ed] what we all know, which is there is this ongoing effort by malign actors around the world to influence what happens here, to stoke antisemitism, to polarize our community,” Deutch said.

Deutch said that AJC also looks forward to working with Ambassador Yehuda Kaploun, who was confirmed this month as the Trump administration’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism. Additionally, the group is pressing the Department of Justice to take action to address protests that block access to religious institutions. He said AJC is open to supporting new legislation on the subject, if necessary.

In his interview with JI, Deutch also urged Jewish communal organizations to come together around a common agenda, arguing that the current security environment demands a unified message and a coordinated push.

The Jewish Federations of North America will be focused on the six-point security plan laid out by many major Jewish groups following the Capital Jewish Museum shooting earlier this year, which includes massive increases to security grant funding and efforts to address antisemitism online, as well as antisemitism in K-12 and higher education and mental and physical health care spaces; the Holocaust Survivor Assistance Program and social safety net programs such as SNAP and Medicaid.

“I think security and combating antisemitism are top of mind across our community, and that’s clearly reflected in our aggressive work to increase nonprofit security funds, tackle hate on social media, and advance our six-point security plan,” JFNA CEO Eric Fingerhut told JI. 

“But we aren’t forgetting other critical issues that we care about, including legislation supporting Holocaust survivors and protect[ing] the most vulnerable in our communities,” Fingerhut continued. “With our new flagship public affairs office up and running, we are also expanding our investment to ensure local Federations come to Washington regularly to strengthen our relationships on the Hill.” 

Nathan Diament, the executive director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, said that OU’s priorities will include additional NSGP funding, allocating resources from the Department of Justice for Jewish community security, implementing the Educational Choice for Children Act — legislation passed in this year’s reconciliation bill creating tax credits for educational scholarships — and, like AJC, urging the Department of Justice to “aggressively prosecut[e] those who mount ‘protests’ at Shuls.”

In the pro-Israel space, a source familiar with AIPAC’s plans told JI that the group’s general priorities next year will include expanding U.S.-Israel collaboration in security, technology and economic spaces; supporting U.S. aid to Israel; highlighting the ongoing security threats to Israel, including Iran’s efforts to rebuild its missile arsenal and nuclear program and its support for proxies; and working to achieve Hamas and Hezbollah’s disarmament.

The source said AIPAC will release a more comprehensive agenda early next year.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Tuesday pushing for additional information about Nonprofit Security Grant Program allocations, as well as criticizing the funding allocation proposed last week by Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“As I travel around Connecticut and hear from community leaders here and around the country, I am struck by the severely heightened anxiety and apprehension about physical threats to places of worship and community centers involving hate-based violence,” Blumenthal said. “One of the most important tools at our disposal to combat such hate and protect religious institutions and minority communities is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP).”

Blumenthal said it is “critical for Congress to have fulsome data” about the program as it works to finalize 2026 government funding, and requested data on grant applications and acceptances, the reasons why FEMA has provided less funding than requested to some institutions and the resources FEMA provided to unsuccessful applicants for each year from 2023 to 2025.

He asked Noem to submit the data by Jan. 6, 2026.

Blumenthal also said he’s “disappointed” by the proposed funding level of $330 million for the program in 2026 offered by Senate Republicans, which falls “far short of my request and the program’s clear need, with reports indicating recipients requested approximately $1 billion from FEMA in 2024 alone.”

A source familiar with the legislation noted to Jewish Insider the Senate bill includes a 20 percent increase over its 2025 funding level, a greater increase than provided for other grant programs in the bill that generally saw increases of 11 percent to 15 percent. 

The explanatory report accompanying the Senate GOP bill also includes language requesting more specific data from FEMA about past grant applications and acceptances.

Senate Appropriations Committee Republicans, in a long-delayed Homeland Security funding bill released on Friday, proposed a modest increase in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $330 million.

The program was funded at $274.5 million in 2025 — not counting supplemental funds included in the 2024 national security supplemental bill. The Senate’s proposed increase comes in far below the $500 million to $1 billion that Jewish community advocates and supporters of the program on Capitol Hill have called for.

The proposal is also slightly below the $335 million approved by the House in its version of the bill earlier this year. The Senate proposal sets off a sprint to finalize 2026 government funding when Congress returns in January, ahead of an end-of-month deadline.

With $305 million available in 2024, the program funded less than half of applications, with nearly $1 billion in total funding requested. The Department of Homeland Security has not yet closed or finalized grant applications for 2025, and has not released data on application or acceptance rates for supplemental funding rounds earlier this year.

The explanatory report accompanying the bill — likely reflecting congressional concerns around a lack of transparency about the program — directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide within 180 days a report on 2023, 2024 and 2025 funding grants, the number of applications, and “any quantitative or qualitative results or other outcomes related to such.”

“FEMA is also encouraged to utilize NSGP grants to help nonprofits detect and respond to threats,” the report continues. “The Committee further notes that eligible uses of NSGP grant funding include the acquisition of technology providing immediate notification to emergency 911 services; real-time, actionable intelligence directly to law enforcement and first responders; and other DHS-certified technology designed to prevent and respond to terrorism and other threats.”

It had been unclear just days ago if the Senate Appropriations Committee would release a Homeland Security bill at all, with the top Democrat on the subcommittee, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), saying he was unsure where the process stood and a Republican member telling Jewish Insider that a full-year continuing resolution — which would continue 2025 funding levels through 2026 — was a possibility.

A spokesperson for Murphy told JI the bill was a GOP product, not, as has been standard, a negotiated draft among both parties.

Lauren Wolman, the Anti-Defamation League’s senior director of government relations and strategy, said that the allocation “is a major step forward and reflects the gravity of the threats facing Jewish communities today.”

“Demand for this program continues to far outpace available funding, and we urge Congress to ensure every at-risk nonprofit can access the security resources it needs,” Wolman continued.

Nathan Diament, the executive director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, said that the Senate proposal is “a useful start to the process.”

“Obviously, in light of recent events, we will be working with our partners to increase that funding level in the final bill,” Diament said. “We appreciate that the Senate bill is on par with what the House reported out earlier this year.”

Michael Masters, the CEO of the Secure Community Network, emphasized that the NSGP funding is critical.

“SCN is deeply appreciative of the Committee’s continued commitment to protecting faith-based communities in today’s unprecedented threat environment. The Nonprofit Security Grant Program has proven time and again to save lives by helping institutions targeted by terror and hate to deter, prevent, and respond to attacks,” Masters said. “At a time when the faith-based community has continued to find itself under attack, this funding is essential to safeguarding communities and preserving our ability to gather and worship — a fundamental right we must fight to preserve, as Americans.”

Rachel Dembo, director of policy and government relations for the Jewish Federations of North America, thanked the committee for the proposal. 

“This is a meaningful step forward as threats to faith communities remain high, particularly for the Jewish community,” Dembo said in a statement. “While more work remains to be done, we urge lawmakers to conference and pass this annual funding bill and keep building toward funding levels that reflect today’s threat environment.”

The massacre in which 15 people were killed at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday has once again brought the Jewish community’s security vulnerabilities into stark focus.

But for the American Jewish community, the prospects for much-needed help from the federal government in the form of additional Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding remain unclear.

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s homeland security subcommittee still hasn’t released a draft bill for 2026, greatly increasing the chances of a full-year continuing resolution that would keep funding for the program flat, at $274.5 million, a level that advocates and proponents on the Hill and Jewish groups say is severely insufficient. The House has passed its own version of the bill with $335 million in funding for the program.

Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, told JI, “The events in Australia and California these past days are terrible reminders of the violent antisemitism Jewish communities face. We’ve worked to ensure that every Federation community has a professional security program and director, but at the end of the day it is the government’s responsibility to keep its citizens safe from terrorism, and that’s why it is critical to both ensure that the Nonprofit Security Grant Program is fully funded and not allowed to lapse.”

Multiple lawmakers on the committee and those who follow the NSGP funding process closely said they have little clarity on the state of play on the funding bill, including subcommittee ranking member Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), a co-chair of the Senate antisemitism task force.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who serves on the homeland security subcommittee, told JI that a full-year continuing resolution is “a real possibility” at present, noting that the legislation “is always tough to put together.”

But Kennedy said there are other ways to boost funding for the grant program. “There’s no reason we can’t do that [add more money for NSGP] if we end up with an omnibus for the remainder of the bills that don’t pass. But every day that goes by that we don’t do something on [Appropriations], an omnibus or CR looks more and more likely,” Kennedy told JI.

Government funding runs out again at the end of January, so lawmakers will need to put together a plan quickly on how they plan to proceed when they return from the holidays.

Grant funding allocations for this year also remain pending — the administration announced applications months ago, but lawmakers have repeatedly raised concerns about unclear timelines and a failure by the Department of Homeland Security to conduct statutorily required outreach programs.

Lankford told JI, “I’ve been calling all year” for the funding to be disbursed, but indicated he hasn’t heard any updates.

Looking into next year, the agenda for combating antisemitism on Capitol Hill also remains unclear. The momentum from Jewish communal institutions and lawmakers that in 2024 drove a push for the Antisemitism Awareness Act has largely died down. It’s been months since the last hearing on antisemitism — once a regular occurrence after Oct. 7, 2023. The volume of legislation introduced and congressional letters on the issue has also seemed to flag.

It’s still early, but there’s little sign that the events of this weekend are fundamentally altering the inertia that seems to have set in on antisemitism policy. Which raises the question: what can?

After repeatedly raising concerns about slow progress, a lack of transparency and a lack of accountability for Department of Homeland Security grant programs this year, including the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee introduced legislation on Tuesday that aims to put in place stricter guidelines for the management of such programs.

Reps. Tim Kennedy (D-NY) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) are leading the DHS Grants Accountability Act, which — according to an information sheet from its sponsors — would implement new transparency measures and consistent standards for how DHS allocates grant funding, require FEMA to allow applicants at least 30 days to prepare and submit their applications and to open applications within 60 days of when funding is appropriated and mandate that FEMA award grants annually.

The legislation comes after lawmakers raised concerns about the Trump administration’s management of various DHS grant programs, including the NSGP. The application process for the 2026 NSGP allocations opened months late and on a significantly reduced timeline, and lawmakers have raised concerns about a lack of transparency from DHS and other issues with NSGP’s management this year.

“I am proud to lead legislation that makes commonsense, necessary reforms to restore fairness and predictability to FEMA’s suite of preparedness grant programs,” Kennedy said in a statement. “When local needs are placed at the forefront of these funding decisions, communities can focus on what matters most: keeping people safe.”

Thompson, the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the bill would “clarify congressional intent and ensure that FEMA awards grants based on need and in a timely and reliable manner” and “keep our preparedness grants consistent and transparent, giving States and local partners the stability they need to keep our communities safe.”

Without Republican support, the legislation is unlikely to move forward in the current Congress.

A group of more than 30 House Democrats wrote to leaders at the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday criticizing their management of the 2025 Nonprofit Security Grant Program, saying that a lack of information provided by DHS is severely hampering applications to and implementation of the critical program.

The lawmakers criticized DHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for publishing the application for the grants months behind schedule, and, they allege, failing to provide “basic information necessary to move the application process forward and to fruition,” including specific timelines for the grants and applications, which the Democrats said still have not been provided.

“States have repeatedly asked FEMA for this information, and they have received no response,” the lawmakers continued. “This has also created a chilling effect on faith-based and nonprofit organizations that are hesitant to participate in an opaque application process.”

The lawmakers stated that the delays in allocating 2025 funding are concerning given the ongoing spate of attacks on religious institutions across the country, including a Catholic church in Minneapolis, a Latter-day Saints church in Michigan and the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington.

They also said that FEMA has failed to engage in educational and outreach programs to prospective applicants about the grants and the application process — programs that are required under law.

“Because of FEMA’s delays and lack of coordination and communication with States, many States have already opened and closed the application period for nonprofit organizations, meaning that any outreach from FEMA at this point would be too late,” the letter continues. “Other States have not opened the application process and have not communicated with faith-based and nonprofit stakeholders, leaving the process and the potential applicants in limbo.”

The Democrats criticized DHS for ignoring bipartisan requests from Congress to share the names of organizations awarded NSGP funding under a supplemental funding round earlier this year, which had been standard procedure in the past.

They also said DHS has added burdensome new requirements on state administrators for nonprofits that are seeking reimbursements for security costs from grants that have already been provided, slowing down reimbursements, increasing administrative costs and discouraging further applications.

The letter also raises concerns about language included in some NSGP materials suggesting that the grants could be conditioned on compliance with immigration enforcement efforts and alleges that DHS may be attempting to ban Muslim organizations from receiving security funding. The administration has already pulled funding from some Muslim groups with alleged ties to terrorism.

“FEMA must take immediate steps to get the FY 2025 NSGP back on track so that FY 2026 can proceed without the present delays, inconsistencies and uncertainties, and lack of uniformity and predictability that have previously been the hallmarks and guardrails for a program serving several thousand faith-based and nonprofit applicants each grant cycle,” the letter concludes.

The lawmakers urged DHS and FEMA to take immediate action to rectify the series of concerns they outlined and move the 2025 grant process ahead quickly. 

The letter was led by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, and co-signed by Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Lou Correa (D-CA), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Delia Ramirez (D-IL), Tim Kennedy (D-NY), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), Julie Johson (D-TX), Nellie Pou (D-NJ), Troy Carter (D-LA), Al Green (D-TX), James Walkinshaw (D-VA), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Ed Case (D-HI), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Andre Carson (D-IN), Dina Titus (D-NV), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Shontel Brown (D-OH), Gabe Amo (D-RI), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Jennifer McClellan (D-VA), Laura Friedman (D-CA) and Dave Min (D-CA), and Dels. Pablo Hernandez (D-PR) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).

“It is absolutely unacceptable that the Trump administration is dragging its feet on the awarding of these vital security grants,” Pou said in a separate statement. “As domestic extremism and terrorist threats to synagogues and other religious and community centers explode, Congress appropriated these grant funds to help support readiness. Americans have an unshakeable right to worship in peace and security. Congress deserves answers and our nation deserves action from this administration.”

A series of Jewish community groups, in a joint statement released on Tuesday, urged Jewish organizations to apply for Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding, in spite of ongoing concerns from some in the community about potential new conditions on the funding.

Some in the Jewish community have raised concerns and expressed confusion about language present in some NSGP application materials indicating that grants may be contingent on cooperating with immigration enforcement efforts and eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programming. The Federal Emergency Management Agency did not respond to a request for comment.

“While we are aware that questions have arisen on the part of certain religious institutions regarding the current year’s program criteria, our organizations strongly urge all eligible institutions to apply for this critical resource,” the Jewish Federations of North America, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Anti-Defamation League, Secure Community Network, Community Security Initiative and Community Security Service said in a joint statement.

The groups called the NSGP “an essential lifeline for all synagogues, schools, community centers, and other community institutions, regardless of their denomination” in light of “unprecedented threats to our communal security.”

The groups said they have been “in regular contact with government officials who have affirmed their continued commitment to protecting the safety of all faith-based institutions and the values they hold.”

They also urged organizations with further questions to contact the state-level agencies responsible for administering the NSGP grants.

Speaking to members of the Florida Democratic Party Jewish Caucus over Zoom on Wednesday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) accused the Trump administration of not working in good faith to combat antisemitism, discussed recent Democratic National Committee votes on Israel and offered a strong defense of Israel against a growing chorus of critics.

Wasserman Schultz argued that a series of moves by the Trump administration — attempting to place new conditions on Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding, gutting the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and eliminating Justice Department programs focused on hate crimes — show that the administration’s focus on antisemitism isn’t genuine.

“None of that makes us safer, and all of it demonstrates that they don’t really care about taking care of our community. They aren’t concerned about antisemitism, they are concerned about maintaining power,” she said. “Let’s not let our community members believe the rhetoric and the BS.”

Highlighting the administration’s moves on NSGP funding, Wasserman Schultz noted the long freeze in reimbursements from the program, and said that the administration had also tried to demand that all NSGP recipients cooperate with immigration enforcement authorities and eliminate any diversity, equity and inclusion programs to make them eligible for funding.

She said that advocates had worked to ensure that the immigration demands were dropped, but said that “the DEI part is still being litigated.”

She said that universities largely “deserve the criticism and deserve to be investigated by an Office of Civil Rights that would be robustly funded. But if Trump cared about that, he wouldn’t have cut their budget in half and fired half their employees.”

The former Democratic National Committee chair also spoke about the recent DNC debate over a pair of Israel-related resolutions. One, which called for an arms embargo on Israel, was defeated, while one calling for a ceasefire, the release of hostages and humanitarian aid passed the Resolutions Committee but was then withdrawn.

“They moved past the issue, but there were many of us that had to work very hard to communicate our deep concern and opposition” to the resolution calling for an arms embargo, Wasserman Schultz said. “Thankfully, because our party does support the U.S.-Israel relationship, and because our party does believe that Israel should remain a Jewish and democratic state, that resolution was defeated.”

Addressing criticisms of Israel more broadly, Wasserman Schultz affirmed that she is a Zionist and emphasized that Hamas, by carrying out the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, was responsible for starting the war and could end it by releasing the hostages.

“Israel … are not aggressors. They don’t engage in land acquisition. They are only interested in living in peace with their neighbors,” she said. “The wars that have occurred across the millennia have almost exclusively, and certainly in modern times exclusively, been initiated by outside terrorist groups or other countries invading Israel.”

Wasserman Schultz emphasized the need for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the end of Hamas as a security threat to Israel and a menace to the Palestinian people.

She blamed Hamas for the issues with humanitarian aid distribution, given the group’s theft of aid and the threat it poses to those who distribute it. “If they continue to be obstructionist and prevent humanitarian aid from getting to their own people, then they will continue to struggle.”

Wasserman Schultz said that “propaganda … is being used to make Israel look like they are the evil aggressors and oppressors,” calling it “outrageous.” She called out media photos featuring emaciated children, many of whom were revealed to have congenital diseases, as proof of mass starvation in Gaza as one example of such a phenomenon.

“We know as Jewish people that, at the end of the day, we’re very easy to blame. It is really like a reflexive, default position for far too many people. It’s embedded, it’s in societal norms,” Wasserman Schultz said. “This is happening regularly and we have to make sure that we are really fighting back.”

She said that criticism of Israel isn’t inherently antisemitic, but that the slogans “from the river to the sea” and “globalize the intifada” are clear calls for the destruction of Israel and the death of the Jewish people, and that “that is a very serious form of antisemitism. That shouldn’t be open for debate.”

A bipartisan group of more than 70 House lawmakers pressed the Trump administration last week about the supplemental round of Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding awarded to more than 500 Jewish groups in June, saying that the administration is withholding information from Congress about which institutions are receiving funding.

Some nonprofits that applied for grants have not, themselves, been told whether their applications have been accepted either, two sources familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider, complicating their efforts to submit complete and accurate applications for 2025 funding. 

The lawmakers said they have “sincere concern” that they have not been provided with the list of institutions receiving funding under the $94 million funding round, as has been standard practice. They added that the absence of that information could impact institutions’ ability to apply for funding from the 2025 NSGP allocation.

“As members of Congress working diligently to ensure there are resources available to faith-based institutions to secure themselves against attack, it is extremely concerning that FEMA’s reason for not providing Congress with this information is because of a perceived ‘security concern,’” the lawmakers said in a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency Acting Administrator David Richardson sent Aug. 7. “FEMA has not informed Congress of the nature of this threat. This is not the normal course of business”

A Senate aide told Jewish Insider that at least some lawmakers in the upper chamber have similarly been left in the dark about the grant awards.

The lawmakers noted the NSGP has faced other delays this year, including a monthslong freeze on reimbursements for already awarded NSGP funds from previous years’ grants. NSGP applications for 2025 opened last month, months later than usual, with a condensed timeline for organizations to apply for the funding.

“As you are aware, the process to apply for the NSGP is long and arduous,” the letter continued, raising further concerns about the abbreviated timeline for organizations to apply for grants for 2025.

“With the announcement of the awards of the National Security Supplemental delayed until June and awardees unaware if they are recipients of this supplemental funding, non-profit organizations, especially faith-based organizations, face tremendous levels of anxiety and uncertainty,” the lawmakers said. “This is compounded by FEMA’s failure to notify congressional offices of the recipients in our respective districts.”

Nonprofits, the lawmakers said, “are in limbo as they have no way to plan to effectuate the security upgrades they need or know what to apply for before the application deadline, leaving their security posture exposed and vulnerable.”

They called on the administration to “immediately share” the list of funding recipients from the June funding round “as has been the normal course of business for FEMA, so that these non-profits at risk of attack can submit an accurate application before the deadline.”

They said that it is “imperative” for nonprofits, including Jewish organizations, to “have the information they need to submit the best and most accurate application before the deadline.”

The lawmakers provided an Aug. 8 deadline for FEMA to provide the requested information, but it’s not clear if that deadline was met.

The letter was led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Mike Lawler (R-NY).

“While the release of the FY2025 funding notice is a welcome development, the condensed application timeline presents real challenges. Timely and transparent communication is key to helping communities navigate the process effectively and maintain a proactive security posture,” Michael Masters, the CEO of the Secure Community Network, said in a statement.

“We thank Congressman Gottheimer for leading this bipartisan effort urging FEMA to share the list of awardees with Congress. Transparency and timely information are essential for nonprofits to plan the security upgrades they need to keep their communities safe,” Lauren Wolman, the senior director of government relations and strategy for the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened applications on Monday for 2025 Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding, months after the applications traditionally open and amid pressure from lawmakers and community stakeholders.

Applications for the funding round are due Aug. 11. This application round pertains to the $274.5 million in funding that Congress appropriated for the 2025 grant cycle.

An additional $126 million in funding for the NSGP remains outstanding from the national security supplemental bill Congress passed last year. Organizations have already applied for that funding tranche. FEMA did not respond to a request for comment on when that funding will be allocated.

Delays in opening the application had been a source of frustration among both Jewish groups and the program’s advocates on Capitol Hill. One Senate lawmaker told Jewish Insider last week that they had been pushing the administration to release the remaining security grant funding, calling the delays “dumb.”

A coalition of Jewish groups and other nonprofits also said earlier this month in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that the funding would become unavailable on Sept. 30, at the end of the fiscal year, even if applications have not yet been released or evaluated by FEMA.

“The Nonprofit Security Grant Program is a vital resource for faith-based and community institutions facing growing security threats,” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), who has been pressing the administration to release the funding, told Jewish Insider on Monday. “As Jewish communities have endured a surge in antisemitic threats and violence and now prepare for the High Holidays, this funding could not come at a more critical time.” 

“I’ve long been a strong advocate of this program and have worked closely with [the Department of Homeland Security] and [the Office of Management and Budget] to help ensure that this funding moves forward,” he said. “I’m glad to see the application window now open. These grants don’t just strengthen security, they protect lives and ensure that Americans can worship without fear.”

Lankford said last month that the funding had “already been held up too long.”

Lauren Wolman, the senior director of government relations and policy for the Anti-Defamation League, highlighted the need for the outstanding funds from the supplemental bill to be released.

“We appreciate the Administration’s release of $274.5 million in urgently needed Nonprofit Security Grant Program funds, which will help protect at-risk communities facing real threats. But the job isn’t done,” Wolman said in a statement. “FEMA must urgently release the NSGP supplemental funds Congress appropriated to meet overwhelming demand. Every day of delay puts lives at risk.”

Nathan Diament, executive director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, thanked the administration and congressional advocates for their advocacy.

“We [at Orthodox Union Advocacy] are very grateful to our allies in the Trump Administration — especially Amb.-Designate [Yehuda] Kaploun and the White House Faith Office — for working to get this critical funding released,” Diament said. “We also thank our allies in Congress — especially Senators [James] Lankford, [Katie] Britt and [Susan] Collins. At this time of heightened antisemitism the NSGP grants are essential to protect the American Jewish community.”

Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, linked the announcement to JFNA’s advocacy on the issue last month.

“This is an important step for our community’s safety, and it is the direct result of the collective advocacy work that we carried out in June during the United for Security mission and our presentation of the Six-Point Policy on Security Plan,” Fingerhut said. “We should all be proud to see that our work moved the Administration to act.”

Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, who said she had raised the issue at a meeting with House Homeland Security Committee members last week, said that the delays have “cost Jewish and other communities precious time at a dire moment for our security.”

“The funding allocated by Congress through the NGSP has a critical role to play in that process, and we’re glad that after an intensive advocacy push, our communities will finally have the opportunity to apply for these funds,” Spitalnick continued. “We also cannot simply barricade or prosecute our way out of this crisis of violent hate — and measures like this must go hand-in-hand with the broader policies aimed at building resiliency to hate and extremism in the first place.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), one of the leading Senate advocates for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, told Jewish leaders on Wednesday that he is working with administration officials to ensure that NSGP funding moves forward quickly, but acknowledged that it had already taken too long.

Though the administration recently released freezes on reimbursements for past NSGP grants, it still has yet to announce awards for a supplemental grant round for which nonprofits applied in the fall of 2024, and has not yet opened the application for 2025 grants.

“That funding is not at risk. It is going to be let go, and it should be let go very, very quickly,” Lankford told an advocacy group organized by the Jewish Federations of North American and Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

He continued, “We do have wide agreement to be able to say this needs to be done. It needs to be done faster, rather than slower. It’s already been held up too long. It’s June, almost July. The decision should have already been made to be able to move this.”

The Oklahoma senator, a co-chair of the Senate antisemitism task force, said he’s been in regular contact with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought — seen as a key fiscal hawk inside the administration — about moving the funding ahead.

“He has assured me again that it is moving,” Lankford said, who spoke to Vought on Wednesday. “They are getting all the details worked out. They continue to be able to work with DHS to be able to make sure that funding is moving. That is not at risk. It is caught up in all the initial – we’re holding everything to be able to look at it. But that funding is not at risk.”

Lankford said he’s continuing to engage with the OMB and other parts of the administration, communicating “this is just common sense, that we need to be able to do this.” The senator urged advocates to keep calling their representatives to continue pushing the issue.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the chair of the House Rules Committee and former chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, also addressed the group, and said she plans to introduce legislation regarding Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions policies on college campuses, which is “going to hold the schools responsible for any BDS activity.”

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) warned that he plans to excoriate the president of Georgetown University at a congressional hearing next month if the school hasn’t fired a university professor who urged Iran to attack U.S. forces in retaliation for the U.S. strikes on Iran.

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who is mounting a bid for Senate, told the group that she’s a “proud Zionist” who “stand[s] with the Jewish community to call out rampant antisemitism, disgusting and egregious antisemitism.” 

“My name is Haley Stevens, and you will always have a fierce ally in me,” she said. 

She said she’s working to increase funding for the NSGP, noting that an attack like the one in Boulder, Colo., could happen at a synagogue in her district or anywhere in the country.

Other lawmakers who attended the meeting included Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Lisa McClain (R-MI), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Celeste Maloy (R-UT), Gabe Amo (D-RI), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), George Latimer (D-NY), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Joe Morelle (R-NY), Randy Weber (R-TX), Gary Palmer (R-AL) and Lois Frankel (D-FL).

The House Appropriations Committee voted on Tuesday to boost its proposal for 2026 Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding by $30 million, up to $335 million, an increase that Jewish groups say is a positive, but insufficient step, amid rising threats to the community.

The change was approved by a voice vote as part of a bipartisan package of amendments.

The committee’s original proposal had set funding for the program at $305 million, the same funding level in place in 2023, which had fulfilled less than half of the grant applications received at the time, before the spike in domestic antisemitism and antisemitic violence in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks and ensuing war in Gaza.

Supporters of the program on Capitol Hill have, on a bipartisan basis, called for $500 million to be provided for the program in 2026, while many Jewish community groups have said the program should receive $1 billion.

The debate also comes amid rising fears of Iranian-backed or Iran-inspired attacks on Jewish institutions in the U.S. prompted by Israeli and American strikes on Iran.

Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, told Jewish Insider that JFNA is “grateful” for the funding boost, which is “a meaningful step forward, but it’s still not enough.”

“Security isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity. For many Jewish organizations, the cost of keeping their doors open and our community safe from growing antisemitic threats is the single largest cost,” Fingerhut said. 

He noted that JFNA and other Jewish groups are bringing a delegation of more than 400 Jewish leaders to Congress on Wednesday to advocate for greater NSGP funding and other priorities.

Lauren Wolman, director of federal policy and strategy at the Anti-Defamation League, said, “In the wake of surging antisemitic violence and the heightened threat environment following the Iran-Israel conflict, Jewish communities across the country are living in fear.”

“ADL was proud to work with bipartisan members to increase funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program in the Homeland Security Appropriations Markup,” Wolman said. “In times of crises, expressions of solidarity are important, but they must be backed by meaningful action. As the appropriations process moves forward, ADL will continue working with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to increase funding to ensure at-risk communities can worship, learn, and gather without fear.”

“This funding boost over the Subcommittee’s initial proposal is a very welcome and good start,” Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, said in a statement. “We appreciate the Appropriations Committee’s bipartisan effort to increase funding for the NSGP at such a critical time. With threats against the Jewish community surging, every additional dollar makes a difference in protecting lives.”

But, Diament continued, “the need far exceeds current funding levels, and we will continue to work with allies in Congress toward the $500 million funding target. That level of funding is what our community needs, and it is supported by a strong bipartisan coalition.”

Jewish groups said on Monday that the House Appropriations Committee’s 2026 appropriations bill, which includes $305 million in funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program, fails to meet the need for the program.

The House Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security voted on Monday evening to advance the bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, with an increase from 2025 of just over $30 million for NSGP funding. The full committee will debate and vote on the bill on Thursday morning.

Nathan Diament, the executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, said in a statement the House proposal is “a far cry from what is needed in the face of exploding antisemitism.”

“The pro-Hamas calls to ‘globalize the Intifada’ have arrived in America. Jewish communities are facing a real crisis with a real set of threats, and Congress must respond with real action,” Diament said. 

“Every synagogue, school, and community center denied funding is left vulnerable. Thoughts and prayers are not going to protect us. It’s time for Congress to step up with the resources needed to keep our communities safe,” he continued.

The Anti-Defamation League expressed a similar view.

“In the wake of the horrific antisemitic violence we’ve seen in Washington, D.C., and Boulder, our communities are living in fear. We appreciate the proposed increase to $305 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, but it is not enough,” Lauren Wolman, director of federal policy and strategy at the ADL, said in a separate statement. “Not when Jewish schools are forced to hire armed guards. Not when synagogues are receiving bomb threats during services.” 

Wolman continued, “This program is a lifeline, and the demand far exceeds what this funding level can provide. ADL is committed to working with bipartisan lawmakers to ensure more at-risk communities have the resources they need to feel safe. Words of support must be matched with action.”

The $305 million figure would restore the program to its 2023 funding levels, though it still falls short of what Jewish advocacy groups and lawmakers have called for. At the time, the $305 million funding level fell short of meeting demand. 

OU Advocacy, the public policy arm of the Orthodox Union, is one of many Jewish organizations that has called for at least $500 million in NSGP funding for the next fiscal year. 

Both the OU and the ADL signed onto a joint statement with other Jewish community groups following the Capital Jewish Museum shooting last month, urging federal officials to increase NSGP funding to $1 billion.

“OU Advocacy views the NSGP as severely underfunded, despite skyrocketing antisemitism. In 2023, the program received 5,257 applications for $679 million in funding, but only 42% were approved. In 2024, more than 7,500 organizations applied for nearly $1 billion in grants, but less than half, $454.5 million, was distributed,” the organization’s press release stated.

The Trump administration has requested $274.5 million for NSGP for FY 2026, keeping the program funded at FY 2025 levels. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) held a press conference with other New York Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Dan Goldman (D-NY), as well as communal Jewish leaders to push 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.”

A group of eight Jewish House Democrats called for action to advance the Antisemitism Awareness Act and increase Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding, in advance of votes on the House floor on a pair of resolutions condemning recent antisemitic attacks.

The statement highlights the recent string of antisemitic violence across the country and argues, “The Jewish community needs real action, not just resolutions.”

The lawmakers said that, “While the House will vote on two non-binding resolutions this week condemning the antisemitic attacks in Washington D.C., and Boulder, Colorado, the Jewish community is reeling, and we need Congressional leaders to come together and support real policy change.”

The statement was signed by Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Lois Frankel (D-FL).

“In just the last two weeks, our country has witnessed two back-to-back antisemitic terror attacks that have left two dead and 15 seriously wounded,” the lawmakers said. “These events are an escalation of ongoing antisemitic violence that has become more and more common since Hamas’s October 7th massacre.”

The statement calls on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to bring a clean, unamended version of the Antisemitism Awareness Act to the Senate floor and for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to bring the bill up for a vote in the House.

“Codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism is long overdue, and is more urgent now than ever as we see one violent anti-Zionist terror attack after another,” the statement reads. “You cannot fight antisemitism if you are unwilling to define it.”

It also calls for President Donald Trump and members of the Appropriations Committees to provide “long-requested levels of $500 million” for the NSGP, arguing, “it will help [Jewish institutions] put in place additional security measures like security cameras, locked doors, security guards, and more that could thwart terror attacks like the one that transpired at the Capital Jewish Museum.”

The statement outlines a series of violent antisemitic incidents in the past year and a half, including the Capital Jewish Museum murders and the Boulder, Colo., attack, as well as the attempted arson of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home during Passover; the death of Paul Kessler, who was killed in November 2023 in Los Angeles by an anti-Israel demonstrator who hit him on the head; and the stabbing of a Jewish barber in Yonkers, N.Y. in August 2024, which the lawmakers say “underlie the need for urgent, serious action.”

The statement’s neutral tone on the two antisemitism resolutions reflects the fact that many House Democrats are condemning one of the resolutions, led by Republicans, which focuses heavily on immigration issues. Controversial language describing “Free Palestine” as an antisemitic slogan was pulled from the resolution ahead of the vote.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Monday that the resolution is a “desperate attempt to distract,” an “embarassment” and a “joke.”

The statement was also endorsed by Democratic Majority for Israel.

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.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will announce on Monday that he is launching “an all-out push to shore up” $500 million in the fiscal year 2026 budget for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program in response to a spate of recent antisemitic terrorist attacks, he revealed to Jewish Insider in an interview on Thursday.

He said that key Senate Republicans have appeared amenable to that request and called the administration’s proposal for flat funding for the program a nonstarter.

“The attack in Colorado, the shooting in Washington, the arson in Pennsylvania [of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home] have one thing in common: they have cited anti-Israel sentiment as a justification for their violence. In other words, they’ve used the actions of the Israeli government they don’t like to justify violence against Jewish Americans here at home,” Schumer said. 

“We’re witnessing — unfortunately, in real time — the resurgence of collective blame against the Jewish people,” he continued. “Collective blame is traditionally one of the most nasty, dangerous forms of antisemitism, and so if we don’t confront it clearly, unequivocally together, we risk opening the door to even darker days.”

Schumer emphasized that criticism and peaceful protest of the Israeli government is not antisemitic, “but there’s a profound and dangerous difference between criticizing a government and condemning an entire people,” he continued. 

He told JI that he had spoken to key Republicans about the funding level, and they seemed amenable. He argued that enhanced security provided through the grants could “stop a lot of these attacks.”

“We’ve had discussions with the members of the Appropriations Committee,” Schumer said. “They seemed open to it. The NSGP has always had bipartisan support, and our leading Republican has been Sen. [James] Lankford of Oklahoma.”

Lankford was the lead Republican on a recent bipartisan Senate letter requesting $500 million in funding. Thirty-two other senators, including one other Republican, also signed that request.

A Schumer spokesperson told JI that the Democratic leader believes $500 million should be attainable under the current administration. Schumer had initially pushed for an additional $1 billion for the program in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.

The administration’s flat funding request for $274.5 million, which Schumer called “unacceptable” in the interview, would amount to an effective funding cut, given that funding was supplemented in 2024 by $180 million provided through the national security supplemental bill, the senator argued. An additional $220 million in supplemental funds remain in limbo — institutions applied last year, but have not yet been notified if their applications were accepted, — on top of the $274.5 million that will be available through regular appropriations this year.

The top Senate Democrat said threats against synagogues and Jewish day schools have surged further following the attacks in Washington and Boulder, Colo. He said he had been in contact with the FBI about the potential for “copycat” attacks. 

“This is not new. In Boulder and in so many other places there have been threats against synagogues, against Jews, etc., and if it is not confronted strongly and directly, it then leads to even death, to people being killed,” Schumer said. 

He said the FBI was “very open” to his warning and had clearly received the message.

In 2024, when the program had a total of $454.5 million available, just 43% of funding requests were fulfilled. Supporters of the program in the House and Senate have urged Appropriations Committee leaders and the administration to allocate $500 million for the program, while Jewish groups asked for $1 billion in the wake of the D.C. murders.

In addition to the $500 million for FY 2026, Schumer will push for the 2026 funding bill to include funds for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which manages NSGP, to provide technical assistance to smaller institutions to apply for grants, a process some lack the expertise or staff to navigate.

“They don’t have the consultants or the wherewithal on their own,” Schumer said.

Schumer told JI he also wants the administration to promptly open applications for the 2025 cycle, which usually open in May. “We passed this last year and the deadline was May 14, but now the money has to start flowing,” he said.

And he called on Americans broadly to “confront and disavow antisemitism … across the nation.”

President Donald Trump’s full budget request to Congress on Friday recommended Congress hold the Nonprofit Security Grant Program at its current level of $274.5 million, in spite of chronic funding shortages and pressure from both lawmakers and the Jewish community for substantially increased funding at a time of rising antisemitism.

In 2024, at that funding level, and with an additional $180 million available from the national security supplemental bill last year, just 43% of funding requests were fulfilled. Supporters of the program in the House and Senate have urged Appropriations Committee leaders and the administration to allocate $500 million for the program, while Jewish groups asked for $1 billion in the wake of the murder of two Israeli Embassy employees at the Capital Jewish Museum.

The budget requests no funding for two hate crimes prevention grant programs, the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer NO HATE Act Program and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Grants Program.

The administration indicated in the budget top lines it submitted earlier in May that it aimed to eliminate unspecified Department of Justice hate crimes grant programs, which it said had violated free speech rights.

As previewed in the top lines, Trump recommended a cut in funding to the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, responsible for investigating antisemitism claims, from $140 million to $91 million. 

The request also proposes cuts to Federal Bureau of Investigation intelligence and counterterrorism and counterintelligence programs.

The proposal would also significantly cut U.S. military aid to Jordan, cut funding to the State Department by nearly half and ban funding for the United Nations Human Rights Council or United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

A bipartisan group of 33 senators — mostly Democrats — sent a letter last week urging Senate Appropriations Committee leaders to provide $500 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program in 2026, matching the record-high request from a group of House members earlier this month.

The letter was sent the day following the murder of two Israeli Embassy employees outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, an attack that led a coalition of Jewish groups to call for increasing funding for the program, which provides synagogues and nonprofits with grants to improve their security, to $1 billion. The funding request in the Senate letter likely would have been finalized prior to the attack.

It’s not clear, at this point, whether lawmakers might seek to revise their requests to come closer to the $1 billion level, or how feasible either request level might be. The Trump administration had proposed cuts to non-emergency grant programs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and has not yet offered a specific proposal for the NSGP. The $500 million request is nearly double the NSGP’s current funding level of $274.5 million.

“The threat of violence is unfortunately increasing at places of worship across our country at alarming rates,” the Senate letter reads. “There has been an increase in hoax bomb and active shooter threats against houses of worship to interrupt services and intimidate the worshipers. There has also been an increase in antisemitic and anti-Muslim incidents across the country following the October 7 attack in Israel.”

The letter outlines a series of attacks on houses of worship across the country, including synagogues, which the signatories said “highlight the ever-increasing need for the NSGP.”

The letter also notes the significant shortfall in funding for the program last year, with just 43% of grant applications being approved, even with additional funding available through the national security supplemental bill. Applicants requested a total of nearly $1 billion in funding.

“Unfortunately, it is easy to see that the need for the NSGP is quickly outpacing the funding,” the letter reads, noting that the deficit “left most of the applicants without the funding they needed to provide security to their at-risk institution.”

“Today’s threat environment provides a compelling public interest in preventing attacks that would disrupt the vital health, human, social, cultural, religious, and other humanitarian services provided by at-risk faith-based and nonprofit institutions,” the letter continues. “Such threats terrorize the lives and well-being of millions of Americans who operate, utilize, live, and work in their communities.”

The letter was led by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), James Lankford (R-OK), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), joined by Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mark Warner (D-VA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Angus King (I-ME), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Tina Smith (D-MN), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Ed Markey (D-MA).

Though Lankford and Cramer are the only two Republicans who signed the letter, the bipartisan request marks a change in Senate advocacy on this issue — in the past, bipartisan Senate groups have not specified amounts in their lobbying for the program. Senate Democrats last year called for $400 million for the program.

Following the murder of two Israeli Embassy employees outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), a New Jersey gubernatorial candidate, wrote to federal leaders to call for further action to protect the Jewish community and raised concerns about growing trends of antisemitic violence across the country.

Sherrill wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi to call on the government to provide additional resources and funding to allow houses of worship and nonprofits to protect themselves — including through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program — and ensure that law enforcement can properly investigate and prevent antisemitic violence.

In the letter, Sherrill described the shooting as unequivocally motivated by antisemitism and as  “an assault on the core values and ideals of our nation — particularly the right to religious expression and to practice one’s faith without fear of violence” and said “we must take every effort to prevent it from happening again.” She said the attack “highlight[s] the threat of violence against Jewish Americans and residents across the United States.”

“As antisemitic violence and threats have increased, I remain concerned that synagogues, Jewish faith-based organizations, and nonprofits are under-resourced for the heightened threats that they face,” Sherrill said. “I urge you to take whatever actions you can to ensure that the programs that support these organizations are properly resourced and staffed.”

In addition to NSGP funding, Sherrill expressed concerns that funding cuts will leave “initiatives within your departments meant to combat antisemitism and other hate crimes … unable to address the rising threat that we face today.” She pointed specifically to a range of programs to address and prevent hate crimes.

The administration has sought to cut funding from hate crime grant programs it claimed violate the First Amendment. Sherrill urged the administration to “maintain and expand funding for these programs.”

Sherrill linked the shooting to the April arson attack on the residence of Penn. Gov. Josh Shapiro, pointing to the arson as another example of the “ever-present risk of antisemitism and violence to all Jewish Americans,” given that the arsonist, who targeted the governor’s mansion on the first night of Passover, was allegedly motivated by Shapiro’s support for Israel. Sherrill also highlighted vandalism and firebombing incidents at synagogues in her district. 

“Our country faces a crisis of antisemitic violence and threats that show no signs of abating,” Sherrill wrote. “It is vital that the federal government take urgent action to protect Jewish communities, prosecute perpetrators of antisemitic hate crimes, and support community programs to counter antisemitism. Jewish Americans face the severe threat of antisemitic violence every day, and it is long past time that the U.S. federal government prioritizes their safety.”

Another gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), publicly urged other candidates in the race to support state legislation to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism last week, in response to the shooting. Sherrill has said she supports that bill.

Some in the Jewish community have seen Sherrill’s record on Jewish issues as spotty at times compared to Gottheimer, but a pair of progressive candidates with more questionable records on such issues have become increasingly competitive against Sherrill, who leads in polling.

A coalition of 46 Jewish organizations issued a joint statement on Thursday urging additional action from the federal government to address antisemitism in the United States following the killing of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, and particularly expanding funding for a variety of programs to protect the Jewish community.

“The rising level of anti-Jewish incitement, which inevitably leads to violent acts like the one in Washington, DC yesterday, requires governmental action commensurate with the level of danger,” the letter reads.

The demands include a call to massively expand funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $1 billion, from its current level of $274.5 million, in addition to $200 million in supplemental funding also expected to be released soon. The new request is double the $500 million request from Jewish groups in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and the request recently submitted by a bipartisan coalition of House members.

The letter further said the NSGP process should be “made more flexible and accessible,” describing it currently as “cumbersome and lack[ing] transparency.”

The groups also called for additional funding for security at Jewish institutions, for the FBI to expand its intelligence operations and counter-domestic terrorism operations and for local law enforcement to be empowered to protect Jewish establishments.

“The demands on local and state law enforcement far outpace their capacity to meet the need, which disproportionately affects targeted communities like the American Jewish community,” the letter says, of the need for additional funding for state and local law enforcement.

The groups also urged the federal government to “aggressively prosecute antisemitic hate crimes and extremist violence in accordance with the law” and to hold online platforms including social media and gaming sites “accountable for amplification of antisemitic hate, glorification of terrorism, extremism, disinformation, and incitement.”

The letter describes the murders as “the direct consequence of rising antisemitic incitement in places such as college campuses, city council meetings, and social media that has normalized hate and emboldened those who wish to do harm.”

Signatories to the letter include major national Jewish organizations including the American Jewish Committee, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Jewish Federations of North America, Anti-Defamation League and AIPAC, as well as groups representing a wide political and religious cross section of the Jewish community.

Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) pressed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for clarification on her department’s plans regarding the Nonprofit Security Grant Program — the funding of which is a key priority for the Jewish community — as the Trump administration considers cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which manages the program. 

Kim and Noem engaged on the issue while the latter was testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday. Kim, the top Democrat on the HSGAC subcommittee that oversees FEMA, urged Noem to ensure NSGP funding is not reduced or eliminated outright as part of President Donald Trump’s push to abolish FEMA, citing the program’s success in securing New Jersey synagogues amid rising antisemitism. 

“I think that there’s very strong bipartisanship here in Congress, especially the Senate, to protect the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. It is literally the best tool that people in New Jersey are telling me is needed to be able to counter antisemitism. I can’t tell you the number of synagogues and temples that are lined up to try to get this type of funding. In fact, you know, given the rise of antisemitism that we have in our country right now, we should be surging resources, not cutting,” Kim said. 

Noem replied that, “We definitely have seen the value in the program and are willing to discuss this with” senators interested in protecting NSGP funds. 

“I want to engage with you on this further because when we’re hearing this language about abolishing FEMA. One of the elements that people have raised the most concerns about is what does that mean for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. I really do urge you to work with me and this committee to have a declarative stance on that so people, especially those concerned about antisemitism, can have clarity on what comes next,” Kim then said. 

FEMA began reimbursing NSGP recipients earlier this month following a more than two-month funding freeze at the agency, which caused an extended pause on the review of applications and the reimbursement of nonprofits already approved. The Trump administration faced public and private pressure to resume that funding during that time from a bipartisan chorus of lawmakers and Jewish communal leaders.