First, the best law firms in the country. Next are its top universities. President Donald Trump is now relying on the advocacy organisations that support civil society in the United States.
Trump stated on Thursday that the administration is considering the tax-exempt status of environmental organisations, including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, an ethics monitoring group, as well as Harvard.
It might deal the nonprofits and his alleged political opponents a crippling financial blow.
The president’s comments at a White House gathering started to validate what advocacy organisations have been subtly warning about: Trump’s campaign of retaliation is about to hit them.
In reference to CREW specifically, Trump stated, “It’s supposed to be a charitable organization. The only charity they had is going after Donald Trump. So we’re looking at that. We’re looking at a lot of things.”
Threatening to undermine the independence and autonomy of law firms, college campuses, and now advocacy groups, Trump and his administration have been slicing through the country’s institutions, placing them in danger of losing their federal funding or means of support.
Not even 100 days into the new administration, it’s all happening fast and in ways that have never been seen in this nation before in terms of both pace and magnitude.
Additionally, it is causing shockwaves that are echoing across the American system.
Cole Leiter, executive director of the advocacy group Americans Against Government Censorship, said, “It’s a sad day in this country when organizations that provide critical services to their communities are under attack from their government. No administration, Republican or Democratic, should be able to weaponize the weight of the government against their political enemies.”
The list of organisations continues to expand
Trump’s actions alone consist of a nearly daily stream of White House executive statements.
In addition to making demands of universities over their policies around student activism, the Trump administration has issued orders against law firms that have cases or attorneys thought to be against him.
Trump singled targeted environmental organisations that mainly disagree with his “drill baby drill” agenda and CREW, a watchdog organisation whose founder, Norm Eisen, was instrumental in Trump’s first impeachment. Thursday may have added more to the pile.
When combined, however, the executive orders, acts, and memos make it abundantly evident that the Trump administration is willing to experiment with new ways to exercise executive power and challenge the Congress and courts to step in. And more is anticipated in the future.
A person familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous said that civil society, immigration, and environmental advocacy groups have been preparing for any challenges to their tax-exempt status.
According to the source, some people anticipate that on Tuesday, Earth Day, Trump will begin to take action against the environmental organisations.
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These are the mostly nonprofit organisations and groups that support different areas, constituencies, and issues; many of them are headquartered in Washington.
Environmental organisations have learnt that the Trump administration is draughting executive orders that would target the tax status of environmental organisations that address climate change, as well as the tax status of any foundations that support their efforts, according to Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Centre for Biological Diversity.
