Vanita Gupta: “All of this suggests a bigger, more fundamental goal: to shut down debate, cut off services to disfavored communities and dismantle civil society. These actions are unconstitutional, un-American and harm us all.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a powerful op-ed in the New York Times, former Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta exposed the Trump administration’s escalating assault on America’s nonprofits, revealing a coordinated strategy to silence dissent and dismantle the civil society organizations that provide essential services to communities across the country.
The Trump administration and Congressional Republicans have launched relentless attacks on America’s civil society organizations, targeting the nonprofits and faith-based charities that serve our nation’s most vulnerable communities. These organizations provide critical services, support those that need help most, and strengthen the fabric of our society. Now, as the Trump administration dismantles entire agencies and programs that provide lifesaving support, they are investigating the very civil society organizations that have stepped in to fill the void. Beyond being deeply unpopular, these attacks set a dangerous precedent and pose a direct threat to our democracy and to communities across the country.
Read more below:
New York Times: You May Not Be Trump’s Target This Time. But You Could Be Next.
President Trump’s actions targeting law firms, judges, media organizations, universities and labor unions have demonstrated a norm-shattering zeal for retribution and punishment of anyone who may disagree with his policies. Now, nonprofit organizations are up.
An executive order directed every federal agency to send the White House targets for investigation that include large nonprofit corporations or associations and foundations with assets of $500 million or more. The Department of Government Efficiency tried to assign a team to an independent nonprofit organization that had criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies. Last month, a congressional committee launched a probe into over 200 nonprofit organizations, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and dozens of religious institutions, without basis or evidence of wrongdoing. And over the last few weeks, the president’s allies in the House have held multiple hearings with such titles as “Public Funds, Private Agendas: NGOs Gone Wild.” These hearings protested the work of organizations that provide services to vulnerable communities and seek to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law.
All of this suggests a bigger, more fundamental goal: to shut down debate, cut off services to disfavored communities and dismantle civil society. These actions are unconstitutional, un-American and harm us all.
This latest assault comes at a moment when we need civil society to fill the breach left by a government in retreat from its role in providing humanitarian assistance, asserting global leadership, fighting climate change, safeguarding public health, funding scientific research, expanding economic opportunity, protecting civil rights and supporting immigrants and the poor.
And crucially, because civil society organizations exist outside of government, we rely on them to fight official abuses of power.
That of course is exactly why they make such a fine target for the president. Civil society groups ensure that our government, no matter who is in power, is accountable to the law and to our Constitution. I know this from having sued Democratic and Republican administrations as a lawyer working at nonprofit organizations, as well as from having defended the government as a Justice Department official.
With civil society itself under attack, the very foundations of our country — our ability to hold the government accountable, to be free to dissent and debate, to support vulnerable communities — are also threatened. This matters because, as with all moves out of the authoritarian playbook, even if you’re not the target this time, you could be next.
This campaign against nonprofits will affect all of us, wherever we live and whomever we voted for. These organizations — which are nonpartisan, nonviolent and charitable in purpose — play a vital role in a vibrant society. Americans in every community depend on them for some of the most critical services, whether it’s worship at and aid from religious institutions, support for law enforcement and victims of crime, after-school care, organizations advocating clean air and water, food banks and legal aid offices, consumer protection groups or programs for older people and people with disabilities. Communities will rely on them even more as the federal government shreds the social safety net that so many Americans depend on.
Recent government actions include slashing federal funding for those who receive it, threatening baseless investigations with the aim of removing tax-exempt status and extinguishing organizations through crushing financial penalties. The effort rests on unfounded claims that these organizations engage in “illegal D.E.I.,” that they support illegal immigration or even terrorism, that they are fraudulent scams misusing taxpayer money or that they promote partisanship.
Anti-democratic regimes around the world target the rule of law and attack nonprofits so that their work of holding the government legally accountable and supporting vulnerable and disfavored communities ceases.
But in America, no president, Democrat or Republican, has the power to defund and dismantle nonprofit organizations he personally disagrees with. That is a violation of the Constitution, including the First Amendment bar on targeting organizations for their advocacy. Courts that have considered the administration’s anti-D.E.I. measures have either struck them down or expressed concern that they violate the First Amendment and due process rights. Further, by law, the president cannot unilaterally use his executive authority to revoke any organization’s tax-exempt status, nor can he freeze a nonprofit organization’s funds because he disagrees with a position for which that organization lawfully advocates. The president is prohibited from influencing tax decisions that should be made by career officials of the Internal Revenue Service. This is not a norm; it’s the law.
But we also have seen that this administration doesn’t let the law stand in the way of enacting its agenda. The chilling effect from the mere prospect of government action, unlawful though it may be, is the point. After all, the blatantly unconstitutional executive orders targeting law firms didn’t stop some of the firms from capitulating to the administration’s demands. Organizations that are wrongly targeted require costly legal defense — to protect both their existence and their work, as well as to fight for the rule of law. But there is a smaller pool of available private sector lawyers, given how many big firms are now sitting out the battle for the rule of law in this country.
Having watched some law firms and universities capitulate, nonprofits across the country are organizing in advance to stand strong with those wrongly targeted and with one another. Civil society recognizes that an unlawful attack on one is an attack on all. These are leaders who are used to speaking out, fighting hard fights and not giving up. They will challenge these actions in court. They won’t be cowed. And they know that while they defend themselves and the nonprofit sector, the work can’t stop. If it does, the American people will feel the greatest pain.
Today it’s a Republican president; tomorrow it could be a Democratic president engaging in a tit for tat. Our country does not need that race to the bottom.
It is incumbent on all of us to fight for American freedom in this moment. You can donate to organizations wrongly attacked to help them cover their legal costs and continue their important work even while litigation ensues. The law firms that are defending themselves against unlawful executive orders are also at work advising and defending the nonprofit sector; even more law firms, especially the larger ones, should find the courage to do so.
Our country and our communities are counting on civil society organizations to thrive, and we must support them. The foundations of American freedom depend on it.
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