A bipartisan group of 41 U.S. senators urged the Senate Appropriations Committee to allocate $750 million to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program for the 2027 fiscal year.
“The threat of violence is unfortunately increasing at places of worship across our country at alarming rates,” wrote Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) in a letter to leaders of the committee on April 16.
“Nonprofit organizations that are at risk of terrorist attacks, particularly houses of worship and other faith-based organizations, use the NSGP to provide funding for physical security enhancements as well as emergency preparedness training,” the senators wrote. “In the past few years, there has been an increase in hoax bomb threats and attacks against houses of worship that are intended to interrupt services and intimidate worshipers.”
There has been an “increase in antisemitic incidents across the country following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel,” the senators stated. “Nationwide, there have been countless acts of violence against religious communities.”
“Funding has not kept pace to meet the moment,” they wrote. In 2024, more than half of applicants were left “without the funding they needed to provide security to their at-risk institutions,” they added.
The Jewish Federations of North America applauded the senators and said that in 2025, 33 senators requested $500 million for the program.
“The bipartisan consensus around $750 million for NSGP is a significant step toward our community’s $1 billion goal,” stated Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of the Federation.
“At a time of rising antisemitism and an escalating security crisis, demand continues to far outpace available funding,” Fingerhut stated. He urged “swift action to ensure at-risk institutions have the resources they need before the next incident—not after.”
