The FBI and DHS are holding a closed-door hearing with their allies in Congress on a new “pre-crime” unit buried in Donald Trump’s FY2027 budget that targets anyone who disagrees with him. The administration would have you believe it’s responding to real threats, but the data says otherwise. In the last thirty-five years, right-wing extremists have been responsible for more than five times as many attacks as left-wing groups, research the administration has scrubbed from the DOJ’s website. The U.S. Congress has an oversight responsibility to hold the FBI accountable and reject their scheme to trample on the rights of people who happen to be on Trump’s personal enemies list.
BACKGROUND
- Trump Is Pushing To Fund A New “Pre-Crime” Unit Targeting His Political Opponents. Buried in Trump’s FY2027 budget is funding for a new FBI-led unit called the National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7) Joint Mission Center, a ten-agency operation dedicated to hunting down Americans the government proactively classifies as “domestic terrorists.” In reality, it’s just a supersized effort to target Trump’s political opponents using the most powerful domestic law enforcement agency in the country.
- Trump’s “Pre-Crime” Unit Tramples on the First Amendment, Broadly Targeting Anyone Who Speaks Out Against Right-Wing Priorities. The budget request, which suggests social media is a “breeding ground” for the kind of speech Trump and his allies are seeking to clamp down on, names the following categories of free speech as red flags for Trump’s new “pre-crime” unit:
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- Hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.
- Anti-Christianity.
- Extremism on race, gender, and migration.
- Anti-Americanism.
- Anti-capitalism.
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- Trump and His Allies Are Refusing To Testify Publicly About New “Pre-Crime” Unit. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing in February, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi admitted that the DOJ had been building the secret list, but other officials have refused to provide public testimony on the new initiative, insisting that discussions be held in classified, closed-door hearings.
- Trump and His Allies Are Creating a Pretext To Target Virtually Any Group They Disagree With. The criteria for Trump’s “pre-crime” unit are so broad and vague that they hand the administration a pretext to go after virtually any progressive nonprofit, civil society organization, advocacy group, labor union, or faith community it doesn’t like, none of whom are violent and none of whom are terrorists.
- Thousands of Americans Are Already On Trump’s List. Trump’s “pre-crime” unit is already operational even without official funding approved by Congress. As of last fall, a watchlist reportedly listed some 5,000 Americans as being targeted by the unit. The Trump administration is now seeking $166 million and hundreds of new positions to fully implement their plan.
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