Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska leaders are in limbo, unsure about the fate of millions of federal dollars earmarked for the agency’s services.
The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is targeting organizations that provide refugee resettlement assistance. Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska is among those marked for cuts, along with $3.3 million of its federal grant money awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services. The organization has received additional funds from other federal agencies in the form of contracts in past years. It is unclear if those will be renewed.
The news came in a Feb. 1 post on X. Retired Army general Michael Flynn accused Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska and other organizations of using religion to launder government funds and attached a document listing the organizations that would be cut off by DOGE. Flynn served as national security adviser for about the first three weeks of the first Trump administration.
“It’s time to hold these organizations accountable,” Flynn wrote in his X post. “American taxpayers deserve transparency. Enough is enough!”
Elon Musk, President Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser who leads DOGE, boosted the post a day later, adding that the payments totaling more than $628 million were illegal and would be halted immediately.
DOGE was created through an executive order signed by Trump on his first day in office and is not a Cabinet-level department, according to NPR. Rather, it is a renamed and repurposed version of the United States Digital Service, which was created in 2014. The scope of DOGE’s activities far exceed that of the original office, which has prompted questions about its legality.
As reported by NPR, some Democrats have condemned the wide latitude and access given to DOGE. On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that "before our very eyes, an unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government."
Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska president and CEO Chris Tonniges said that DOGE’s allegations are false and that the organization has been thoroughly vetted by the U.S. government, as have the refugees it serves.
“We have a long history of welcoming individuals that are being persecuted and/or in a position where they need to flee for their own safety,” he said. “And so to just all of a sudden stop or be a less welcoming place feels un-American.”
According to Tonniges, Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska has helped resettle roughly 6,000 refugees over the past 3.5 years — many of whom have worked with the U.S. government and risk reprisals in their home countries.
“The work that we do associated with refugee resettlement is helping individuals that have been and are invited guests of the federal government to restart their life here in the United States,” he said.
Federal funding accounts for roughly 33% of the Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska annual budget, according to Tonniges. He said that those funds are essential in maintaining services for the roughly 20,000 Nebraskans the agency serves, only 7% of whom are refugees. The organization is looking for ways to improve its services and transparency, and to clarify the nature of its work.
“There is a sort of misunderstanding that there is this huge money grab or money making scheme associated with agencies like LFS,” said Tonniges. “And if you look at our financials, and you look at our balance sheet, there is nobody that is getting rich off of the work that LFS does.”
In a January report by Nebraska Public Media’s Fatima Naqi, a Lutheran Family Services leader said clients have asked about their families’ cases – wondering how things will work for them under the second Trump administration.
“We have received a lot of inquiries from the community about their families,” said Nizar Rasho, assistant vice president. “I think the great fear is that people who have already been here have feared about family separation.”
Fatima Naqi contributed to this report.
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METHODS:
To tell this story, reporter Nick Loomis reviewed the original post on X by Michael Flynn and the subsequent repost and elaboration by Elon Musk. He also analyzed the data in the attached document listing the recipients and amounts of federal funding.
Because Nick reported this story primarily for Nebraska Public Media — a Midwest Newsroom partner and his host station — he then identified Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska and found their official response to the posts and the allegations therein. He reached out to LFS for further comment and was granted an interview with President and CEO Chris Tonniges.
REFERENCES:
- Michael Flynn’s Feb. 1 post on X
- Elon Musk’s Feb. 2 repost and comment on X
- “DOGE is making major changes to the federal government. Is it legal?” (NPR | February 4, 2025)
- Lutheran Family Services official response to posts and allegations (onelfs.org | February 3, 2025)
- Lutheran Family Services defends mission against fraud claims from Trump's efficiency team (Nebraska.tv | February 3, 2025)
TYPE OF ARTICLE:
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.