JUNE OP ED: Trump’s Assault on Our Country’s Organizational Fabric
By The USRESIST NEWS Team
The Trump administration is taking a wrecking ball to institutions—government and non-government alike– that support democracy and protect our citizens. The administration seems to be fixated on destroying organizations that provide social services to those in need, and those who speak out against Trump and his policies. There is the false rationale that damaging or destroying these organizations will help reduce the budget deficit; and or that that these organizations wrongfully support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices. But these are not well founded claims and don’t justify the government’s actions. The Trump administration appears to have no grand strategy in going after these organizations. The assaults are taking place in a seemingly mean-spirited way with little forethought to their impact on the quality of life and democratic framework of our society. Below are some examples.
Non-Profit Organizations
Politico reports how the Trump administration is mounting a sweeping offensive on America’s nonprofit sector, deploying a blend of funding cuts, the elimination of tax benefits, and bureaucratic paralysis. In just over two months, at least 10,000 nonprofit workers have lost their jobs, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Non-profits providing essential services including housing, education and domestic violence support — and who are already scrambling in an uncertain economic environment — now face an even steeper funding and staffing drought.
Government Agencies
The administration’s DOGE initiative resulted in the seemingly arbitrary dismantling of several government agencies that service those in need. These include USAID, that provides health and education services to poverty stricken people in developing countries; the National Labor Relations Board that protects the rights of private-sector employees to organize and bargain collectively for better wages and working conditions; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, that monitor banking practices and the safety of consumer products; and the Department of Education that oversees federal education policy and administers funding for educational programs at the federal level. Although federal judges have ruled several of these closings unconstitutional ( Claiming Congress, not the Executive, is the branch of government responsible for shutting down agencies), most of these agencies remain closed or shells of what they once were.
Law Firms
The Administration is taking efforts to close American law firms with lawyers that had previously represented positions adverse to Trump. These retributive actions include issuing executive orders and presidential memorandums limiting the ability of attorneys to obtain access to government buildings, stopping any consideration for future employment with the government, canceling government contracts, and preventing any company that uses such a firm from obtaining federal contracts. Several firms, such as Paul Weiss and eight others have made deals with the administration to provide pro bono services in order to avoid sanctions and restore access to government contracts. Others, such as Wilmer Hale have been successfully pushing back on the government’s efforts. District Judge Richard Leon, commenting in one of these cases said “The cornerstone of the American system of justice is an independent judiciary and an independent bar willing to tackle unpopular cases, however daunting. The Founding Fathers knew this!”
Educational Institutions
The Administration has been carrying out what appears to be a personal vendetta against certain Ivy League colleges, especially Harvard and Columbia. The attempted take down of Harvard includes efforts to control the university’s curriculum, staffing and admissions policies; its admissions of foreign students, its research grants and its non-profit status. The administration is basing its attacks on what they say is the prevalence of antisemitism at Harvard, but there is little data to support this charge. Harvard has pushed back with well-articulated legal challenges, which federal judges are reviewing.
Columbia has taken a different tack agreeing to make certain changes in staffing and the management of protests in exchange for being able to continue with federally funded research.Columbia acquiesced to most of the administration’s demands in a memo that laid out measures including banning face masks on campus, empowering security officers to remove or arrest individuals, and taking control of the department that offers courses on the Middle East from its faculty.
Media
The Trump administration has signaled its dislike of media organizations that oppose its policies. Recent effort targeted at media interference include a $60 billion lawsuit against CBS for what it claims was a misleading interview with Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024; shutting down the Voice of America; ceasing funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio, and barring the Associated Press from attending press briefings in the Oval Office.
Looking at these actions in total can be cause for alarm and despair. They reflect the efforts of an administration that lacks tolerance for diversity of opinion and free speech; that values the wealth of the few over the well-being of the many; and that fails to see the important role government has in uniting rather than dividing our country and supporting our people.