The election will have placed a new check on presidential power. The White House is already signaling how hard it intends to push back.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the White House has been considering an executive order designating certain American nonprofits as supporters of terrorism.
This comes as three days after Republicans lost both chambers of Congress, Donald Trump named Stephen Miller his chief of staff (11/6/26), signaling a likely hard line from the administration. Reuters reported that Trump had told advisers the White House needed to become “more aggressive.”
The potential executive order would invoke little-known section 501(p) of the tax code which would automatically suspend designated organizations’ tax exemptions, causing their donations to lose their deductibility.
Organizations could challenge the designation afterwards in court, but the damage would have been done.
This fits into a continued crackdown on legitimate nonprofit activity. Earlier White House directives had called for potential DEI investigations of foundations with assets of $500 million or more, and investigations into nonprofit funding allegedly supporting political violence.
This new proposed order has reportedly been under development for months, and its targets remain unknown. The White House called the discussions speculative.
Meanwhile in Florida, a separate state terrorism designation had already forced the Council on American-Islamic Relations to suspend operations while pursuing its legal challenge.
The election will have placed a new check on presidential power. The White House is already signaling how hard it intends to push back.
