Washington, D.C. — New court filings reveal the Trump Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation based on a political wish list from extreme conservative groups. A new op-ed exposes the administration’s war on nonprofits, and how it’s working exactly as intended. And a coming IRS rule change threatens to choke off the charitable work that keeps communities afloat.
Stephen Miller Gets Revenge on Behalf of the Extremist Groups SPLC Exposed
Court papers filed this week reveal that the DOJ’s criminal investigation of the Southern Poverty Law Center was prompted in part by a letter sent to Stephen Miller from right-wing organizations that were called out by the SPLC.
The letter used language about the SPLC nearly identical to language that later appeared in an FBI document laying out the basis for the investigation. As SPLC’s lawyers wrote in their court filing, the DOJ’s justification for opening a full investigation, which led to an indictment, appears to be a direct rehashing of conservative groups’ complaints about being designated as hate groups.
Put simply, the administration launched a federal investigation based on the petty grievances of extreme, right-wing organizations with an axe to grind.
Philanthropic Leaders Call Out Trump’s War on Nonprofits
Center for Effective Philanthropy President Phil Buchanan and Vice President of Research Elisha Smith Arrillaga are sounding the alarm. In their new op-ed, they lay out just how much damage the Trump administration has already inflicted with their war on nonprofits and civil society organizations. New survey data show that two-thirds of nonprofit leaders have concerns about their organizations’ financial sustainability, with a growing number pausing operations, scaling back services, or closing altogether. These organizations, which provide food, housing, substance abuse prevention, assistance for survivors of sexual assault, teen violence prevention, and general community support, are often the backbone of the communities they operate in.
The Trump administration’s obsession with punishing people and organizations with which it disagrees comes at a cost, and those communities across the country will be the ones that suffer the most from this illegal weaponization of government.
Trump Is Using the IRS to Attack Nonprofits and Choke Off Charitable Work of Groups He Opposes
Just in case the funding freezes, indictments, and investigations weren’t enough, the Trump administration is preparing a new IRS rule that nonprofit advocates warn will gut charitable work across the country. The Treasury Department is proposing to revamp tax-exempt reporting requirements, with a particular focus on so-called fiscal sponsorship — arrangements that allow community projects to operate under an established nonprofit’s umbrella without going through the lengthy and resource-intensive process of forming their own organization.
The problem: the IRS’s tax-exempt division has already lost nearly thirty percent of its staff to Trump and Musk’s DOGE purge, raising serious questions about whether the agency has the capacity to process applications and handle compliance at all. Nonprofit advocates warn the rules will create bottlenecks that strangle legitimate charitable activity, serving as a chilling effect on programs serving everyday people.
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