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For Immediate Release
Contact:
Don Owens, dowens@citizen.org, (202) 588-7767, Nadia Prupis, nprupis@citizen.org, (202) 588-7779
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
(202) 588-1000LATEST NEWS
Trump Weighing Executive Order to Label Disliked Nonprofits as ‘Terrorist’ Groups: Report
According to the report, the administration is seeking to use a little-known provision in the federal tax code to strip nonprofits of their status without going through the normal Internal Revenue Service investigation and appeals process.
The law, signed in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush, allows the president to identify an organization in an executive order as supporting or engaging in terrorism. The law also prevents organizations from challenging designation or suspension in proceedings concerning federal tax liability.
It’s not clear yet which groups will be targeted, but the administration and its allies in Congress have already signaled their intent to go after left-leaning groups like George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The latter was forced to cease operations in Florida Thursday following a state-level "terrorism" designation by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In September 2025, weeks after the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, Trump signed National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), which identified “anti-capitalism,” “anti-Christianity,” “extremism on migration, race, and gender,” and “hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality” as ideological characteristics associated with “domestic terrorism.”
The memo directed the IRS and other federal agencies to investigate nonprofits and their funders for alleged connections to political violence.
Shanna Singh Hughey, a policy strategist at the anti-authoritarian watchdog group Protect Democracy, said in September that the memo's vague and subjective language gave the administration expansive powers to target the nonprofits of its political foes.
“It goes way beyond that to the organizations that are connected to the folks who might be accused [of violence], including board members and staff, as long as that organization is accused of either funding or facilitating the violence done by the target," she told Inside Philanthropy.
“This is exactly what we expect to see when authoritarians attempt to consolidate and hold power,” she said. “There are entities that seek to hold the government accountable, and so the government uses the tools in its toolkit to try to silence them.”
Then-White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller speaks during an event with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on August 6, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Trump's reported plan to attack nonprofits comes on the same day that he named Stephen Miller, the chief architect of NSPM-7, as his new White House chief of staff.
Weeks before the memo was signed, Miller vowed to "dismantle and take on the radical left organizations in this country that are fomenting violence." He has said that descriptions of Trump and his immigration policies as "authoritarian" or "fascist" were examples of language that "incites" violence.
He has also referred to the Democratic Party itself as "not a political party," but "a domestic extremist organization."
During a State Department ministerial on terrorism in July, Miller said that under NSPM-7, the administration was empowered to “disrupt, identify, defund, debank, arrest, and prosecute” what it called terrorist organizations.
In the same speech, he claimed that left-wing extremists invoke "civil liberties" disingenuously to evade criminal punishment.
Describing leftists as the "enemies of civilization," he said, "It is essential that we are wise enough and strong enough to understand that these appeals must fall on deaf ears."
Ro Khanna Allies Push Him to Declare 2028 Bid, Emboldened by Progressive Midterm Surge
Following Election Day victories by Democrats like Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Troy Jackson in Maine, and other champions of left-wing populist economic policy across the country, they feel Khanna—a supporter of Medicare for All and leader of efforts to block President Donald Trump's wars—must strike while the iron is hot and set a progressive tone for 2028.
“By launching now, we are trying to ensure that the presidential primary debate is framed from a progressive populist perspective," Konst said.
Khanna has openly mulled a bid for the presidency for months. Although he is not involved with the "Run Ro" effort, he told MS NOW Thursday night he was "honored that people are encouraging me to run on a platform of Medicare for All, ending foreign wars and taxing the billionaires," and acknowledged that he was "thinking about it."
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) speaks alongside Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) during a news conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on November 18, 2025. (Photo by Daniel Heuer/AFP via Getty Images)
Khanna has spent Trump's second term establishing himself as one of the most visible faces of resistance to the president, through frequent appearances on cable news and his actions on Capitol Hill.
With the libertarian Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) as an unlikely ally, he spearheaded a bipartisan push last year to force the US Department of Justice to release the files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an effort that intensified scrutiny of Epstein's relationship with the president. Khanna also coined the term "Epstein class" to describe the wealthy and powerful people shielded from accountability.
He's also been at the forefront of a growing anti-interventionist movement in Congress, leading efforts to halt Trump's war in Iran and pushing to cut off military support to Israel amid the genocide in Gaza. Earlier this year, Khanna made international headlines when he was detained in the West Bank by armed Israeli settlers while visiting Palestinian communities affected by Israel's occupation and escalating settler terrorism.
"My view is that whoever runs needs to first have absolute clarity on not being a uni-party on war," Khanna told the Breaking Points podcast on Thursday.
Khanna was among the first to back some of the progressive candidates who took on establishment Democrats in the 2026 cycle—including El-Sayed, Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan (D-Minn.), and Reps.-elect Chris Rabb (D-Pa.), Adam Hamawy (D-NJ), and Claire Valdez (D-NY). Over the course of the midterms, he endorsed over 70 candidates, campaigning in person with many of them.
"Ro Khanna has shown the work ethic, the humility, and the vision that we need in this moment," said Bowman, who was ousted from his seat in New York in 2024 after a multimillion-dollar push by the pro-Israel lobby. “Now is not the time to wait for progress. With the wind at our backs after the midterms, we need a leader who puts everything on the line to fight for a better vision of America. That’s Ro Khanna."
US Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) speaks as Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA members picket during strikes over contract negotiations at Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery offices in New York on August 17, 2023. (Photo by Kena Betancur/VIEWpress via Getty Images)
If he chooses to run, Khanna would be stepping into an ideologically divided and potentially messy Democratic primary that could include other candidates from his progressive wing, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who has also publicly hinted at a run.
Khanna said earlier this week that he embraces the idea of the 2028 primary being an "open clash of ideas.” Beyond fights over single-payer health insurance and the country's relationship with Israel, Khanna's positions could put him at odds with many of his likely opponents.
He has clashed with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who joined the state's billionaire-led effort to kill a 5% wealth tax that would have funded healthcare programs in the state. His call for a pause on artificial intelligence development, meanwhile, goes further than the more limited oversight proposed by those like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Khanna and Ocasio-Cortez share many of the same priorities—Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and raising taxes on billionaires—but they are also not in lockstep on everything. While the Bronx congresswoman proudly identifies as a "democratic socialist," Khanna describes himself as a proponent of "progressive capitalism." He has also been critical of past positions she has embraced, like defunding police.
Konst has said it's critical for those seeking to take the progressive lane to begin making their case early and not give the establishment room to take control.
“The centrists organize and strategize early,” she said. “They have their donors, corporate consultants, and leaders lined up for years. Building off the lessons of past primaries, our goal is to channel the progressive energy into a vessel for organizing and spreading our winning message early, as we can’t wait for the politics to line up.”
Responding to a political climate of widespread anger at both parties, Khanna has emphasized that he wants to represent "a new politics in this country" and help turn Democrats into "a new party."
“We need America’s Next New Deal," he said on Thursday. "Whether I run or support someone else is something I will decide with my family after the holidays.”
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