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Hawley, Ex-Biden Gun Violence Aide Clash Over 'Two-Spirit' Line in Crime Policy Report

The exchange underscored Republican objections to a CJAF playbook urging community-based alternatives to police funding.

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Gregory Jackson Jr., former deputy director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at the U.S. Capitol on September 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. In the face of Republicans seeking to expand their control over the federal city, Mayor Muriel Bowser has described her cooperation with the White House on law-and-order as a "productive partnership;" while DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb has sued the administration of President Donald Trump twice, writing that the takeover of the city's police is both "un-democratic and un-American." (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Overview

  • At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Blue City Chaos and Tragedy," Sen. Josh Hawley questioned Gregory Jackson Jr. about a Community Justice Action Fund report that promotes shifting resources from police to community-led programs, including safe-space initiatives led by lesbian, gay, bisexual, two-spirit, trans, and gender-nonconforming people.
  • Reading from the report, Hawley pressed Jackson to define "two-spirit," and Jackson said he did not know exactly or was not completely aware of the language, leading to a tense exchange captured on C‑SPAN.
  • Hawley argued the document amounted to an argument against police funding, while Jackson emphasized investments in violence intervention, outreach workers, and victim services as the report’s focus.
  • Jackson, a survivor of gun violence who previously served as deputy director of the Biden White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, asserted that his work helped reduce homicides by 31%.
  • The term "two-spirit" is used in some Indigenous communities to describe certain gender and spiritual identities, a cultural usage noted by outlets covering the hearing.