Free Speech Coalition Vows to Defend Nonprofits From 'Unprecedented' Threat

An alliance of labor unions and advocacy groups launched a new coalition on Tuesday aimed at defending nonprofit organizations from "unprecedented government attacks on free speech," a move that comes amid a Republican-led effort to empower the incoming Trump administration to shutter dissenting organizations.

Americans Against Government Censorship—whose founding members include the AFL-CIO, Oxfam America, Service Employees International Union, and Indivisible—said it was founded to combat the threat posed by bills such as H.R. 9495, which would allow the U.S. Treasury Department to unilaterally strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status if they're deemed supporters of terrorism.

The legislation, which the ACLU said provides merely an "illusion of due process" for accused groups, represents a potentially existential threat to human rights organizations, news outlets, government watchdogs, and other nonprofits that could be key to uncovering and fighting abuses by the incoming administration.

"This sweeping authority could be weaponized against any tax-exempt organization across the ideological spectrum, depending on which party is in power at a given moment," Caitlin Legacki, a spokesperson for the new coalition, said in a statement. "Presenting a strong and united front against political and ideological censorship is the only way to protect Americans' right to stand up for what they believe in under the First Amendment."

"Any trade union, church, philanthropic, nonprofit media outlet or social welfare organization could become a target if they fall out of favor with the current administration."

The coalition was launched weeks after the U.S. House passed H.R. 9495, with 15 Democrats joining nearly every Republican to push the legislation through the lower chamber.

It appears unlikely that the bill will get a vote in the Senate before the new Congress is sworn in next month, but Republicans could revive the measure once they take control of both chambers and the White House.

On its website, Americans Against Government Censorship warns that "increasingly aggressive activists have been very clear about their intent to use the full force of the federal government to target their enemies and hinder the ability of any opposition to slow or stop their policy agenda—including new efforts to target and weaponize tax status through the IRS."

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is among the Republicans pushing the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of a number of nonprofit groups that support Palestinian rights, including Jewish Voice for Peace and American Muslims for Palestine.

Americans Against Government Censorship emphasized that the powers included in bills such as H.R. 9495 "could be weaponized by any administration against any tax-exempt organization across the ideological spectrum."

"Any trade union, church, philanthropic, nonprofit media outlet or social welfare organization could become a target if they fall out of favor with the current administration," the coalition said. "At any time, this agenda would allow a sitting president—Democratic or Republican—to use their power to punish ideological opponents without fundamental due process."