Democrats push Trump to release NYS counterterror funds

WASHINGTON — House Democrats used a Wednesday hearing on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to call on the Trump administration to release $87 million in counterterrorism funding state officials contend is owed to New York.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, accused the president in opening remarks of politicizing the release of counterterrorism grants, noting that New York was slated to receive $187 million in federal funding this past year, but only $100 million has been released.

"Without these funds, New York is more vulnerable to another terrorist attack," Thompson said. "President Trump is playing politics not just with New York’s money, but with the security of our country."

Thompson’s remarks came at a hearing organized by the committee’s chairman, Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), who invited top emergency response officials from New York and the Washington, D.C., area to discuss lessons learned in the 25 years since the Sept. 11 attacks.

"The homeland security mission is never finished," Garbarino said. "Terrorists have continued to evolve with modern technology, utilizing new tools and tactics to recruit, inspire, fundraise and plan attacks like never before — from artificial intelligence and robotics to drones."

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-Manhattan) called for a bipartisan effort to "advocate" for the release of the funds.

"We need to make sure that our homeland can remain safe," said Goldman, whose district includes lower Manhattan.

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), a member of the committee, said in a statement to Newsday after the meeting that a federal judge last December ordered the restoration of the grant money as part of a lawsuit filed by New York.

The White House referred questions about the funding to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not return requests for comment.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani held a joint news conference on Sept. 1 demanding the release of the funds Hochul said supported equipment, training and key NYPD intelligence units.

Hochul has accused Trump of "defunding the NYPD intelligence analysts who foil the attacks, defunding the brave members of FDNY who run into the fire while the rest of us are running out, defunding the National Guard, the units who protect the major transit hubs, defunding bomb squads, defunding police departments and sheriff's offices from Long Island to Westchester to Buffalo."

Garbarino, at the hearing, noted that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, fired by Trump in March amid a series of scandals over her spending on television ads, had initially sought to cut New York’s share of federal counterterrorism grants to just $30 million but faced pushback from New York lawmakers.

"It’s one of the reasons she is now the former secretary," Garbarino said at the hearing.

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.