Trump weighs order that would label some nonprofits as terrorist groups: report

President Donald Trump's administration is weighing an executive order that would brand some nonprofits as terrorism-linked and could strip their tax-exempt standing, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Which groups, and how many, remains unclear. Discussed for months, the plan would use a little-used tax-code provision to suspend exemptions immediately, bypassing the slower IRS process for investigating and penalizing violations. Organizations, including Trump critics, could face instant financial harm, according to The Independent.

A White House official called the talk "speculative," though reporters were told in April no such order was under consideration. The reports come days after Democrats won both chambers of Congress in the midterms. Trump also tapped Stephen Miller, who has driven the broader crackdown on nonprofits, as his next chief of staff Friday.

Earlier steps include a memorandum last year directing the IRS to monitor tax-exempt groups for domestic terrorism involvement, and a Justice Department indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which accuses it of defrauding donors by hiding payments to informants. The group denies the allegations. Former IRS official Carolyn Schenck told the Journal that existing tools are now being combined around the same organizations.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →