Nonprofit leaders brace for possible targeting by the Trump administration after tax measure advances in Congress
CNN
A House measure that would make it easier to yank the tax-exempt status of nonprofits that the Trump administration deems as supporting terrorism marks the latest effort by the president and his Republican allies to hobble organizations that oppose his agenda, some nonprofit leaders argue.
A House measure that would make it easier to yank the tax-exempt status of nonprofits the Trump administration deems as supporting terrorism marks the latest effort by the president and his Republican allies to hobble organizations that oppose his agenda, some nonprofit leaders argue. The provision comes as President Donald Trump has used the powers of his office in extraordinary ways to target top law firms, elite universities and other perceived political enemies. Last month, for instance, Trump directed his Justice Department to launch a probe of ActBlue, the main fundraising platform for Democratic candidates and liberal causes. The language – added this week by the House’s tax-writing committee to the massive “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that’s a top priority for Trump – would allow the Treasury secretary to suspend the tax-exempt status of organizations the administration says are “terrorist supporting.” More than 200 groups – ranging from the American Library Association to the Sierra Club – recently signed onto a public statement urging the House to remove the provision. They say it’s a tool for the president to take aim at his opponents. “We have seen this administration use every lever of power they have been able to grab to target the people they see as their enemies,” said Cole Leiter, executive director of Americans Against Government Censorship, one of the groups objecting to the House language. “This is a broad-based weaponization of government, and this is only the latest manifestation of that.” Nonprofit groups fear more is on the way – with a White House deadline looming for government agencies to identify large publicly traded corporations, foundations and nonprofits, universities and state and local bar and medical associations for potential civil investigations.
The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications devices, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his congressional briefings.
As Chad Curry busily ferries his teenage children through the streets of their Chicago neighborhood of West Ridge, he eyes passing vehicles with a skepticism he didn’t have just a few months ago.
Speaker Mike Johnson is a political survivor, weathering crisis after crisis since his unlikely ascent two years ago.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan are well matched, rhetorically forceful opposites. And they have been clashing for more than a decade over an increasingly relevant question of presidential power: How easy should it be for the president to fire the heads of independent agencies?
The Army gynecologist described in a recent lawsuit as a “predator in uniform” is now being held in the Bell County Jail in Texas, “after apparently violating conditions of liberty imposed by his commander,” according to an Army spokesperson.
Brian Walshe on Thursday came face-to-face for the first time with the man who had been having an affair with his wife before her death, as he took the stand to testify in Walshe’s murder trial.
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Texas to use a congressional map that will boost President Donald Trump’s effort to keep Republicans in control of Congress, blocking a lower court decision that found the new boundaries were likely unconstitutional because they were drawn based on race.
The US military carried out a strike Thursday on a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four people on board, according to a social media post from US Southern Command.
A grand jury voted against indicting New York Attorney General Letitia James after being asked to look at the mortgage fraud case against her a second time, according to multiple people familiar with the development Thursday.
National Guard troops deployed to Washington, DC, can remain there for now, after a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily froze a judge’s ruling that would have soon required them to leave the city’s streets.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bad week just got worse. That’s after the long-awaited release Thursday of an inspector general’s report on his sharing of highly sensitive military attack plans on the unclassified app Signal earlier this year.
President Donald Trump has hired a new architect for the White House ballroom amid disputes between the president and his architect originally contracted to complete the project, several sources have told CNN.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.