It is hard to keep track of the steady stream of executive orders and announcements coming out of the Trump administration — almost every day seems to bring a new provocation. But one released last week definitely got the attention of nonprofits around the country. That’s because, in a two-paragraph memorandum, President Trump essentially declared war on them.
Trump’s memo flatly states that many American nongovernment organizations are “engaged in actions that actively undermine the security, prosperity, and safety of the American people.” In order to “stop funding NGOs that undermine the national interest,” the president directs federal agencies to review all of the funding they provide to nonprofits to ensure that these organizations are aligned with the goals and priorities of the new administration.
How will federal agencies interpret the president’s directive? A granular look at each of the thousands of nonprofits that are currently receiving grants from the federal government would almost certainly take months, and perhaps years, to complete. Does even the fiercest MAGA supporter think that the Trump administration will have the attention span necessary to undertake this kind of effort? Far more likely is a blunderbuss approach, with administrators directed to search for terms like “diversity” and “equity” in proposals and reports and then using their discovery as a pretext for cancelling grants.
There is little doubt that a fishing expedition like this will turn up grist for the online outrage mills — grants to support underwater basketweaving by Native American lesbians and the like.
But the likelihood of valuable programs that the vast majority of Americans find unobjectionable getting caught up in the net is also very, very high. In short order there would be dozens, then hundreds, of stories of the government having pulled the plug on programs that provide care to the elderly, housing to veterans, and food to children.
The ripple effects in science, education, arts and culture — all of which depend on federal money to one degree or another — would be felt for years. It is possible that literally every American would be directly affected by the loss of funding to one nonprofit or another. That’s a lot of angry voters.
To be fair, Trump’s memo on non-governmental organizations is, at least in part, a case of the chickens coming home to roost. The long-simmering right-wing anger with nonprofits doesn’t emerge out of nowhere. Numerous nonprofits and foundations have been active participants in the culture wars in recent years, helping to fuel polarization. Too many activist groups have staked out extreme advocacy positions that are not supported by the general public. And too many organizations have effectively become hostile work environments for conservative and moderate employees.
But even those of us who are concerned about the political drift of American nonprofits should stand in opposition to Trump’s war on nonprofits.
If the goal is to depoliticize American nonprofits, then Trump’s actions over the past few weeks, which have also included executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion and an (aborted) federal funding freeze, are almost sure to have the opposite effect. With overreach this egregious, even nonprofits that might have been sympathetic to elements of the right-wing critique will feel forced to take a side against Trump, if only to protect the grants they have already won. And they would be right to do so.
We don’t want a world in which there are separate nonprofits for Republicans and Democrats. At their best, nonprofits are part of the glue that helps bind our large, diverse nation together. They are also fundamental to almost any effort to solve problems in American life, from fixing potholes to curing cancer. All of this work is jeopardized if nonprofits come to be viewed as politicized institutions, catering to some Americans but not others.
There will no doubt be editorials, advocacy campaigns and lawsuits attempting to stymie Trump’s directive. With any luck, they will succeed, and the administration will stand down.
As was the case with the campaign to defund the police, the effort to defund the nonprofit sector begins with the identification of a real problem but then advances a massive overcorrection as a potential solution. Like the police, American nonprofits are a flawed institution in need of reform. But also like the police, they are essential to the healthy functioning of American society. Here’s hoping that this episode will help all of us, and Donald Trump in particular, learn this important lesson.
Berman is the co-editor of Vital City. He has a book about nonprofits forthcoming from Oxford University Press.
