This excerpt is from a piece by Rachel Rossi that originally ran at Democracy Docket on November 5, 2025.
The recent attempts to decimate civil society are akin to McCarthyism, where broad labels are applied to demonize organizations whose work the administration or Republican lawmakers disagree with. Here are just a few examples of these vague and unfounded accusations:
- “Supporting terrorism and abetting illegal immigration” – This terminology was used to describe employers for whom public service loan forgiveness would be denied.
- “Antifa” – President Trump designated Antifa as a terrorist organization, even though there is no unified Antifa. Trump is simply setting up an attack on any group that expresses it’s working to resist fascism.
- “Funding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its allies” – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) used this accusation as justification to launch a probe into the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation.
- “Fostering antisemitism on college campuses” – House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Missouri) used this language in a letter to the IRS demanding that certain organizations that advocated on behalf of Palestinians be investigated to lose their tax-exempt status.
- “Use violence or the threat of violence to advance political and social agendas, including opposition to law and immigration enforcement; extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders; adherence to radical gender ideology, anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, or anti-Christianity” — This is how Attorney General Pam Bondi framed a new investigation into what she called “extremist groups,” potentially defining almost any organization that supports progressive ideas as a potential “domestic terrorist.”
These are just a few of the many investigations that have been launched against various nonprofits this year.