Senate majority voices will drown out the opposition unless people power intervenes
As the House reconciliation bill makes its way to the Senate, one stark fact overrides all others: the voices of the majority will drown out any major opposition unless people power makes things untenable for that majority. The Republican Senate has shown no desire for compromise with the minority; in fact, they have taken additional steps to undermine protections on minority views in that assembly. Either this becomes a summer and early fall of people power, or a budget will be passed that fundamentally undermines the nonprofit sector and its beneficiaries. As someone recently put it, a majority of Americans need to understand a basic fact: minorities and immigrants did not take your money. The billionaires did, and they will continue to do that unless you stand up and be counted.
The Trump administration is intensifying its unlawful conflict with Harvard University by urging federal agencies to terminate all contracts with the institution, potentially stripping it of over $3 billion in federal funding. This move follows accusations that Harvard supports diversity initiatives and pro-Palestinian demonstrations, raising concerns about the politicization of federal funding decisions and undermining of the First Amendment. In case anyone believes this is even close to normal, it is not.
On May 30, PBS filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, challenging Executive Order 14290, which aims to eliminate federal funding for public broadcasters. PBS argues this order violates the First Amendment by imposing viewpoint discrimination. NPR filed a similar lawsuit earlier in May. These actions threaten the financial stability of public media, particularly in rural and underserved communities.
Much of what we’re seeing in the news these days is story after story of nonprofits or their beneficiaries suffering because of federal policy changes since January 20th. I don’t intend to report every one of those stories, because the details are just too similar and too disheartening. There will be federal news impacting nonprofits, however, and I will be noting those developments.
Furthermore, my team and I have been revisiting the challenges nonprofits faced even before the Inauguration. Back in 2023, I published my book, Managing Your Nonprofit for Resilience. There, I noted in an appendix 50 factors that make it hard to run a nonprofit. What, if anything, has changed in the last two years? We will be taking a look.