Department of Peacebuilding Act of 2025

Key Points

• This bill would create an entirely new cabinet-level Department of Peacebuilding, led by a Senate-confirmed Secretary who would sit on the National Security Council. The department's mission is to make peace a strategic national priority and reduce violence both at home and abroad through nonviolent conflict resolution.
• At least 85% of the department's funding must go to domestic programs, including grants for community violence prevention, school-based conflict resolution, restorative justice initiatives, anti-bullying programs, and support for people re-entering society after incarceration.
• A Peace Academy modeled after military service academies like West Point would provide a four-year education in peace studies. Graduates would then be required to serve five years in public service focused on nonviolent conflict resolution, either domestically or internationally.
• The department would include an Office of Arms Control and Disarmament focused on reducing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction worldwide, including strategies to prevent testing or use of nuclear weapons and cleanup of nuclear waste at contaminated sites.
• The bill creates multiple grant programs for schools, nonprofits, and community organizations to develop peace curricula, cultural exchange programs, violence prevention initiatives, and new technologies that promote peace and sustainability.