Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) was a US government program established under the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

to counter all violent ideologies held by groups or individuals in the US by engaging communities in the

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...

effort and by education programs or counter-messaging. The program worked with community groups such as local governments, police departments, universities, and non-profits. It recruited community leaders, teachers, social workers, and public health providers to help the government in identifying people "at risk" of becoming violent extremists. CVE was criticized for employing flawed indicators of extremism such as mistrust of law enforcement or feelings of alienation and for using religion as part of its metrics targeting Muslims. In April 2017, the

Government Accountability Office The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the s ...

published a critical report evaluating federal CVE efforts that stated, “The federal government does not have a cohesive strategy or process for assessing the overall CVE effort.” Also, its investigators could not “determine if the United States is better off today than it was in 2011 as a result of these tasks.” In December 2016, the incoming

Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

presidential transition team planned to stop the program from targeting

white supremacists White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine o ...

, which have committed bombings and shootings such as at a black church in Charleston. The program was also planned to be renamed to Countering Radical Islamic Extremism.

Congressional A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

criticized CVE for being

politically correct "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...

and argued that using the term "Radical Islam" would prevent violent attacks. Community groups have had concerns that the program could be used to target faith groups for

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

. In May 2017, the Trump White House proposed to cut all funding to CVE. In July 2017, George Selim, a Republican who worked in the Bush administration and headed the CVE, resigned. Selim said that government cooperation with

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

communities had proven crucial to preventing terrorist attacks but that Trump appointees saw no value in this effort. In August 2017, reacting to reports that the Trump administration rescinded a grant to an organization fighting against

neo-Nazism Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

, the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...

warned that the threat of domestic

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

from white supremacists remained high, pointing to an attack in Portland that happened in May. In October, 2018, the task force existed in name only. Its staff members had returned to their home agencies and departments. In July 2019, the grant for the program expired. The program was in the Office of Community Partnerships, which by August 2019 became the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP). The new office was a rebranding of the Obama-era initiative.

References

{{reflist Counterterrorism in the United States Neo-Nazism in the United States Obama administration initiatives