Donald Trump and his Republican allies are planning to target progressive groups they perceive as political enemies in a sign of deepening “authoritarianism”, a US watchdog has warned.
The president-elect could potentially use the justice department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to target non-profits and researchers, launch politically motivated investigations and pass legislation to restrict their activities.
“Trump has made it clear that he plans to use his second term to attack the progressive ecosystem and his perceived enemies,” Adrienne Watson of the Congressional Integrity Project (CIP) told the Guardian. “This is a worrying progression of Trump’s authoritarianism that would undermine our democracy.”
The CIP announced on Wednesday that it will aim to counter such abuses of power with a new initiative to defend progressive groups and individuals. The Civic Defense Project will be led by Watson, a former White House and Democratic National Committee spokesperson.
Fears have been raised by the Trump second term agenda’s considerable overlap with Project 2025, a policy blueprint from the Heritage Foundation think tank that includes plans to attack non-profits, researchers and civil society groups that have challenged election denial narratives.
Activists say the threat extends beyond political investigations and includes leveraging government agencies such as the justice department and IRS to investigate, prosecute and shut down organisations that oppose the administration’s policies.
Trump has nominated individuals with a record of targeting non-profits they disagree with to key positions, including Billy Long for IRS commissioner and Pam Bondi for attorney general. Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI director, has vowed to “come after” media outlets and non-profits that he claims “helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections”.
Congressional Republicans have a history of targeting non-profits including charities, advocacy groups and universities, the CIP says. This includes recently seeking to investigate and restrict the activities of tax-exempt organisations supporting causes they oppose.
Josh Hawley, a Republican senator and Trump ally, has called for the justice department to shut down organisations backing protests involving civil disobedience. Senator JD Vance, now vice-president-elect, introduced a bill to withdraw federal support and impose a 50% excise tax on universities that fail to stop student protests.
Republicans have vowed to continue their investigations into Joe Biden and his family, despite previous investigations yielding no evidence of wrongdoing. The House administration subcommittee chair, Barry Loudermilk, is demanding a new panel investigate the 6 January 2021 attack and the original January 6 committee.
In another ominous sign, the House last month passed legislation that would give the treasury department unilateral authority to strip the tax-exempt status of non-profits it claims support terrorism. Critics have raised concerns that this law could be used to crush dissent.
And on Wednesday the House administration committee will hold a hearing investigating alleged “foreign interference” in the election by entities including the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue. The speaker, Mike Johnson, has promised that the investigation of ActBlue and progressive groups and campaigns will continue in the next Congress.
The Civic Defense Project said it will operate as a rapid response war room to debunk attacks and defend those unfairly targeted. The CIP will continue its work holding investigators accountable for partisan attacks.
“Donald Trump and his Maga allies have spent the last month signaling their intentions to use their newfound positions of power to persecute their political enemies,” Watson said. “Congressional Integrity Project is proud to launch our new program to defend the individuals and progressive infrastructure from these baseless attacks while continuing the vital work of holding those who abuse their positions accountable.”
