And, of course, this may foreshadow future efforts the administration could undertake to change the IRS's illegality doctrine: www.icnl.org/post/news/ev...

All nonprofits should be concerned. This type of politicization could frighten many Americans from entering the nonprofit sector if they aren't sure their loans will be repaid. A future administration could also broaden the list of activities that trigger this regulation. 9/9

In sum, nonprofits truly engaged in serious illegal activity can already have their exempt status revoked by the IRS. This regulation is different. It allows for potentially politicized use of the public service loan program against nonprofits working on certain issues. 8/9

To regain eligibility for the public loan forgiveness program, a nonprofit would have to wait 10 years or submit to a Department authorized "corrective action plan". 7/9

Further, to be eligible nonprofits have to certify they are in compliance with this regulation. This can potentially open them up to liability under the False Claims Act where 3rd parties can sue if a nonprofit "defrauded" the U.S. gov't. 6/9

It then allows the Education Dept. to unilaterally determine by a "preponderance of the evidence" whether a nonprofit has engaged in "activities that have a substantial illegal purpose". The regulation does not envision appeal to an independent court. 5/9

This proposal defines "substantial illegal purpose" to include only a set of crimes related to aiding and abetting violations of immigration law, anti-discrimination law (think universities), disorderly conduct (think protests), and other crimes this administration is focused on. 4/9

The Education Department claims the regulations are based on the IRS's "illegality doctrine", but the IRS already can revoke a nonprofit's status if it has an illegal purpose or engages in substantial illegal activities. Something else is going on here. 3/9 www.icnl.org/post/news/ev...

Under the regulations, a nonprofit that the Education Department unilaterally determines engages in “activities with a substantial illegal purpose” is ineligible for the public loan forgiveness program. 2/9

It's still early days, but I would expect that these laws will be challenged in court and so it will be important to watch what lines the courts draw for states in this space. 6/6

Nonprofits have had to recently deal with more aggressive enforcement of #FARA. These state laws complicate things further - potentially creating 50 different foreign influence schemes for nonprofits to navigate. 5/6 www.icnl.org/our-work/us-...

There are strong First Amendment and federal preemption arguments against these laws. They also have unintended consequences. In Nebraska, one has to register for setting up a talk for a Chinese dissident or the Chinese Communist party. The law makes no distinction. 4/6

It is unclear how these new laws will be enforced, but they are already causing headaches. If a nonprofit receives money from a US company with 25% Chinese ownership it is barred from fundraising in Florida. But nonprofits aren't well equipped to know how a company's ownership is structured. 3/6

At ICNL we have a new briefer out about this wave of laws, their implications for nonprofits, and the constitutional and policy concerns they raise. 2/6 www.icnl.org/our-work/us-...

The piece examines measures in place to prevent politicized investigations by the IRS and steps nonprofits can take to protect themselves. While the administration and others may try to politicize nonprofit status there are guardrails in place: guardrails that need to be protected and strengthened.

This is not a partisan issue. Catchall statutes are dangerous to everyone and create confusion - chilling constitutionally protected speech and association. Trump should not adopt these Biden era regs and Congress needs to reform the Act. Otherwise, the courts need to step in.

DoJ recently came out with proposed FARA regulations. Instead of providing bright line rules to tailor enforcement, they just increased DoJ's discretion to enforce - or not enforce - it against who they wish. Comments are due March 3. www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

It makes sense why FARA is a favored tool for these investigations. Even if DoJ has historically focused enforcement in certain areas, you can make a claimed violation of FARA against almost anyone who has international connections - it's that broad. scholarship.law.duke.edu/dlj/vol69/is...

This past Congress saw a concerning spike in investigations against nonprofits, mostly by House Republicans. Many of them were based on FARA, including against environmental and human rights organizations. #FARA www.icnl.org/congressiona...