**WASHINGTON D.C.** – A prominent Episcopal bishop who has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump is at the center of a swirling controversy concerning the substantial federal funding received by religious organizations for immigrant and refugee resettlement. While specific accusations of the bishop personally “taking” $53 million in illicit funds have not been substantiated, conservative voices are intensifying their scrutiny of how these taxpayer dollars are used and whether they influence the groups’ advocacy for immigration.
The Right Reverend Mariann Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, gained significant media attention in January 2025 when she delivered a sermon during an inaugural prayer service, making a direct plea to President Trump for mercy towards immigrants and LGBTQ+ individuals. Following this, President Trump publicly labeled her a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater.”
In the wake of this public exchange, an op-ed published in the *New York Post* (and circulated by the Center for Immigration Studies) in late January 2025, specifically targeted Bishop Budde and the Episcopal Church. The op-ed highlighted that Episcopal Migration Ministry (EMM), the federal contracting arm of the Episcopal Church, “earned $53 million from various taxpayer-funded government programs to resettle 3,600 individuals” in 2023. The article posited that the church’s advocacy for humanitarian immigration programs, while receiving these funds, could represent a “striking hypocrisy” or a “conflict of interest.”
This figure of $53 million refers to the revenue EMM received from federal contracts for its legitimate refugee resettlement work, not an accusation of personal enrichment or fraud by Bishop Budde. Critics’ arguments are centered on the *principle* of religious organizations receiving significant federal money for services while simultaneously advocating for policies that might increase the number of individuals they are contracted to serve. They argue this creates an incentive to “maintain or increase the number of refugees they resettle.”
Organizations like EMM and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), another major recipient of federal resettlement funds, vigorously defend their work. They maintain that they act as service providers under government contracts to fulfill humanitarian missions consistent with their religious beliefs. The USCCB, for example, has publicly stated that it often spends more on resettlement services than it receives in federal aid, covering the difference with private donations, and firmly rejects any notion of profiting from the programs.
Despite these defenses, the Trump administration has taken concrete steps to significantly reduce federal funding for refugee resettlement. The State Department has terminated or suspended agreements with several faith-based organizations, leading to lawsuits from groups like the USCCB, which claim they are owed millions in reimbursements. In May 2025, the Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe announced that EMM would end its decades-long partnership with the U.S. government for refugee resettlement by the end of the fiscal year, citing the administration’s “preferential treatment” of white South African “refugees” and the broader cuts to the program.
The ongoing scrutiny of Bishop Budde and other religious leaders, coupled with the administration’s actions to defund resettlement programs, underscores a deepening ideological divide over immigration policy and the role of faith-based organizations in federal initiatives.
