On September 25, the President signed a memo titled ‘Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,’ which establishes a National Antiterrorism Taskforce led by White House advisor Stephen Miller to “coordinate and supervise a comprehensive national strategy to investigate, prosecute, and disrupt entities and individuals engaged in acts of political violence and intimidation designed to suppress lawful political activity or obstruct the rule of law.” The memo was also accompanied by a “fact sheet” distributed by the White House. 

The memo creates an expansive definition of Antifa to encompass entities working to counter some of the administration’s priorities. The memo and fact sheet state:

  • “This ‘anti-fascist’ lie has become the organizing rallying cry used by domestic terrorists to wage a violent assault against democratic institutions, constitutional rights, and fundamental American liberties. Common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”
  • “This approach will focus on all aspects of the organized strategy that results in political violence and intimidation, including radicalization, recruitment, funding mechanisms, non-governmental organization involvement, related financial crimes, and the ultimate acts of political violence and intimidation themselves, using authorities across the entire Federal government and a broader investigative focus.”
  • The memo instructs the Attorney General to recommend groups or entities that meet specific criteria for potential designation as “domestic terrorist organizations.” It directs the IRS Commissioner to ensure that tax-exempt entities do not directly or indirectly finance political violence or domestic terrorism, as well as referring cases for criminal investigations to the DOJ.
  • The memo seeks to redefine “American values” to include citizenship and a religious practice:
    • “undermining our American values of free speech, citizenship, the rule of law, patriotic and familial devotion, and love of God.”

We should all be concerned that Oregon has specifically been called out in the memo “Riots in Los Angeles and Portland reflect a more than 1,000 percent increase in attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers since January 21, 2025, compared to the same period last year.” This direct call out could have impacts statewide.

Meanwhile, yesterday the House Judiciary Committee sent investigative letters to several large, well-known foundations, threatening criminal charges. More are expected soon. Today, the NYTimes reported that the DOJ is investigating and intends to bring criminal charges against Open Society Foundations. Additional details are expected to be released over the weekend.

Also, this week, Senator Cotton introduced the Nonprofit Governance Integrity Act to prohibit “foreign nationals” from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba from serving on nonprofit (501c3, c4, and c6) boards. The legislation does not take into consideration that some of those countries do not recognize the right of their people to hold foreign nationality or dual citizenship. Additionally, this bill would bar anyone who may be on an immigrant visa or has a special classification such as refugee status.  Finally, this bill could be used to add more restrictive language about the governing bodies of nonprofits to be compliant to Administration’s priorities and piecing a separation between the public and nonprofit sectors.

What to do now:

  • Breathe. This order will be challenged in court. The President does not have jurisdiction to supersede Congress’ authority and Congress cannot make any “law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” It’s literally the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.
  • That said, we have seen the Administration overreaching it’s authority all year. Do some due diligence on your own – look at your organization’s programming to discover areas you could become ensnared. Preparing in advance can help your organization weather this uncertainty. Protect Democracy has created a series of tools for you to use if your organization is subject to a search warrant, is under congressional investigation, served with a subpoena, etc. If your organization receives an investigative letter from DOJ and/or congressional committees, you can also access legal, communications, and safety/security resources through the Democracy Protection Network. You can apply here.
  • Please join the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Council of Nonprofits, Democracy Forward and others at 1 p.m. PST on Monday, September 29, for a briefing on the memorandum and additional information. Register here.

NAO will keep you posted as this evolving situation develops. If you are not subscribed to our Updates, you can do so here and please consider becoming a member of NAO.