In the aftermath of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination earlier this month, President Donald Trump and senior members of his administration have floated plans to penalize progressive-leaning nonprofit groups they accuse of fostering political violence. One proposal under discussion—stripping such organizations of their tax-exempt status—has alarmed legal experts and major philanthropic foundations alike.
Vice President J.D. Vance raised the issue directly while hosting Kirk’s podcast last week, naming the Ford Foundation and George Soros–funded Open Society Foundations as examples. “We are going to go after the NGO network that foments and facilitates and engages in violence,” Vance said. A White House official later confirmed to TIME that the administration is “exploring a wide variety of options” but stressed that no final decisions had been made.
Experts warn that revoking tax-exempt status would represent an existential threat to charities, which rely heavily on tax-deductible donations. “For many charities, losing their tax-exempt status would be the end of the road,” said Los Angeles-based nonprofit tax attorney Ofer Lion. The classification not only encourages donations but also shields organizations from paying taxes on endowments.
Yet any attempt to use the Internal Revenue Service to target groups based on ideology would face legal and constitutional hurdles. “IRS investigations are not usually targeted toward an organization’s viewpoint, and really, viewpoint shouldn’t come into it at all,” said Roger Colinvaux, a law professor at The Catholic University of America.
Concerns about politicization grew after another episode last week, when ABC suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel just hours after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr criticized his remarks about Kirk’s death. Trump, speaking aboard Air Force One afterward, suggested broadcasters that provide “only bad publicity” should have their licenses reconsidered.
The rhetoric from top officials has rattled the nonprofit world. On Wednesday, 158 philanthropic organizations—including the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, the Mellon Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—issued an open letter denouncing political violence but also warning against government retaliation. “Attempts to silence speech, criminalize opposing viewpoints, and misrepresent and limit charitable giving undermine our democracy and harm all Americans,” the letter read.
The debate touches on a fraught history. The IRS has been accused of politically motivated targeting in past decades, from the McCarthy era to the Obama administration’s audits of Tea Party groups. Congress responded in 1998 by explicitly prohibiting White House officials from pressuring the IRS to initiate or halt audits.
Despite those protections, experts caution that even the perception of politically motivated enforcement could chill charitable activity. Patrick G. Eddington, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, warned that “the IRS has been misused repeatedly for politically motivated audits,” and fears of renewed interference could erode public trust.
As the administration weighs its next steps, the clash sets up a high-stakes test between political power and the independence of civil society groups, with both the nonprofit sector and free speech norms hanging in the balance.
