Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
The Justice Department ordered NSPM-7 enforcement, and the FBI and IRS set up a joint unit to investigate nonprofits
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s December 4, 2025 memo lists “anti-fascist” ideology and opposition to immigration enforcement among its markers. CBS News reported in March 2026 that the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation were forming a joint initiative.
What happened
On December 4, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a memorandum to every federal prosecutor, law enforcement agency and Justice Department grant-making component, “Implementing National Security Presidential Memorandum-7.” It told them to prioritize investigating and prosecuting people and groups who “use violence or the threat of violence” for political ends. It asked agents to look for tax crimes by groups suspected of defrauding the IRS.
The memo lists as markers “anti-fascist” ideology, opposition to immigration enforcement, “radical gender ideology,” and “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, or anti-Christianity.” Trump had issued NSPM-7 on September 25, 2025.
On March 18, 2026, CBS News reported that the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation were forming a joint initiative, housed at the FBI, to investigate nonprofit organizations for suspected links to domestic terrorism. IRS-CI agents rotate through one-year assignments, and IRS-CI confirmed the collaboration. The Justice Department’s fiscal 2027 budget request separately described an FBI “NSPM-7 Joint Mission Center” staffed from 10 agencies to “proactively identify networks.”
Who benefited
The FBI and Justice Department obtained a written mandate to open investigations based on ideology markers. IRS Criminal Investigation gained a counterterrorism role and a seat inside the FBI. Political allies who have long sought to pull the tax-exempt status of progressive groups gained an enforcement arm.
Who wanted something
Trump issued NSPM-7, Bondi wrote the implementing memo, and FBI Director Kash Patel runs the bureau’s side. White House officials including Stephen Miller have accused left-leaning funders of financing unrest. What they gained was a joint task force for pursuing opponents through criminal and tax inquiries.
Who lost out
Nonprofits, their donors and their staff can now be investigated for suspected “links” to domestic terrorism on the basis of political positions the memo lists. Groups working on immigration, gender and policing are named by implication. IRS criminal agents are now embedded in an FBI political-violence program.
Why it matters
A directive that lists political viewpoints as investigative markers has become a standing FBI–IRS unit aimed at the nonprofit sector. It rests on a presidential memorandum rather than a statute. It gives the administration a way to pressure civil society without first proving a crime.
Sources Charity & Security NetworkU.S. Department of Justice (via Charity & Security Network) (primary)CBS News