Ranking Member Scanlon’s Opening Statement at Subcommittee Hearing on Republicans’ Retributive Attacks on Civil Society
Washington, D.C. (December 16, 2025)— Today, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, delivered opening remarks at a subcommittee hearing on Republicans’ attempt to silence civil society organizations.
Below are Ranking Member Raskin’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at today’s hearing.
WATCH Ranking Member Scanlon’s opening statement.
Ranking Member Mary Gay Scanlon
Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government
Hearing on “Partisan and Profitable: The SPLC’s Influence on Federal Civil Rights Policy”
December 16, 2025
Thank you.
Our Republican colleagues call this subcommittee the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government. But it’s clear, from this hearing and others, that their idea of “limited government” only applies to the people and parts of our society that they agree with.
Otherwise, this Administration and its allies are more than happy to use the power of government to ruthlessly intrude in Americans’ lives, whether it’s interfering in people’s private medical decisions made between themselves, their families, and their doctors, banning children’s books and censoring what history they can learn in school, or silencing people and institutions for speaking out, or working for causes that right-wing extremists disagree with.
Which brings us to today’s hearing, which is just the latest act in a growing assault against organizations that serve an important role in our society. While today’s hearing targets one particular group —the Southern Poverty Law Center—this is much larger than an attack on one liberal institution.
It’s part of a broader strategy by the Trump Administration and its allies in Congress to silence and intimidate civil society. “Civil society” is not a concept that we’ve had to think about much in these United States of America, because, for the most part, our leaders and government have generally respected the bedrock American values of free speech and thought, and the equal and fair application of the laws, even when applied to those with whom we disagree.
Civil society is the diverse range of institutions and people, distinct from our government and private sectors, that includes: non-governmental organizations, universities, cultural institutions, religious congregations, clubs, the free press, social movements, and active citizens.
Civil society is a key part of our social fabric, and serves all of us by: providing information and opportunities for engagement, delivering important services, upholding our rights, and keeping our government accountable. These are organizations that Americans trust and contribute to because they support our neighbors and communities, and because they work to promote the common good and a better America.
But this Administration, and some of its supporters, have taken steps to undermine and dismantle these civic institutions, in order to stifle dissent and consolidate power. In the words of conservative columnist David Brooks, “What is happening now is not normal politics. We’re seeing an assault on the fundamental institutions of our civic life, things we should all swear loyalty to—Democrat, independent or Republican. This is a single effort to undo the parts of the civilizational order that might restrain Trump’s acquisition of power.”
These actions are right out of the authoritarian playbook. First, remove professional, nonpartisan civil servants from key government agencies and replace them with loyalists. Then, weaponize these agencies against individuals and organizations that could stand in opposition to this Administration’s out-of-control agenda. And use the presidential bullhorn to undermine those who are meant to serve as a check on the Administration, whether it’s: the press, the courts, labor unions, or professionals like lawyers, doctors, and scientists.
Over the past year, we’ve seen this Administration attempt to intimidate and seek retribution against elected officials who have sought to hold it accountable, as well as civil society groups such as, law firms that brought cases challenging the president and his previous Administration, schools and universities that it considers ideological enemies, media organizations, journalists, and comedians that have published or broadcast stories and jokes critical of the president, public interest groups that advocate for causes and viewpoints this Administration doesn’t like, and nonprofits dedicated to work that runs counter to this president’s political agenda.
Take, for example, the fact that late last month, the Department of Homeland Security suspended federal funding for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. Sister Norma Pimentel, a close ally of Pope Francis, runs the organization and has been lauded worldwide for her humanitarian work with migrants, work that’s put her, and others who work with faith-based immigration services, in the crosshairs of anti-immigrant politicians, particularly as Catholic leaders, including Pope Leo and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have spoken out against this administration’s dehumanizing rhetoric and cruel deportation activities.
And we’ve seen these efforts to suppress opposition to the Trump Agenda aided and abetted by Republicans here in Congress, as they’ve supported unilateral White House efforts to rescind Congressionally approved funding and bully: the media, law firms, universities, and Nonprofits—despite their big talk about freedom, individual liberties, and yes, limited government.
Instead, we now see this Administration and its congressional allies attempting to paint ideological opponents as domestic terrorists.
In September, the Administration issued National Security Presidential Memorandum, NSPM-7, singling out those that it would characterize as anti-American, anti-capitalist, anti-Christian, or otherwise hostile towards so-called “traditional” views on questions of religion and morality. In other words, this Administration and its allies are trying to redefine constitutionally protected speech against this president and his Administration as “domestic terrorism.”
This isn’t a new playbook.
During the McCarthy era, conservative ideologues tried to paint Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders as dangerous communists. But, it goes against everything our Constitution stands for.
So, in that tradition of attacks on civil society as a whole, we’ve seen a cottage industry of meritless conspiracy theories grow and be leveled against the SPLC and other civil rights organizations—groups that seek to ensure that all Americans are given a seat at the table, regardless of race, gender, or background.
Throughout its history, the SPLC has done important work to identify hate groups and extremist threats. And it’s exactly that work that has made the SPLC and similar groups a prime target of right-wing forces now.
But, ultimately, these individual, baseless accusations are just a means to an end. They’re part of a larger goal to weaken and delegitimize the pillars of civil society. A strong civil society provides the infrastructure we need for robust, democratic self-governance.
But, right now, these organizations and individuals that stand up for us, the ones that people look to for protection against government oppression, are under attack by this Administration and its allies.
We, as Americans, must push back. Because, while today the target may be one particular group, or those perceived to be part of one particular political ideology. The next day, it could just as easily be you or me.
Without civil society, and the stability and protection these organizations provide us to counter creeping authoritarianism and right-wing propaganda, all of our rights are at risk.
Because our fundamental rights, the freedoms and the principles we hold so proudly as Americans, are only guaranteed if we stand up and defend them when they’re under attack.
I yield back my time, but not the defense of our Constitution, our civil rights, and liberties.