Bound to Boomerang: The Danger of Weaponizing Agencies
Conservatives have long recognized that the most effective solutions to community problems originate outside of government programs, in local organizations, congregations, and nonprofits that understand their communities firsthand. These groups deliver services efficiently, reflect local values, and operate without the overhead and rigidity of government bureaucracy. They can fill genuine gaps that government programs are ill-equipped to address.
Reasonable accountability ensuring organizations are fulfilling their mission is appropriate and necessary, especially those receiving taxpayer dollars. Conservatives have never opposed transparency or responsible stewardship of public funds. But increasingly, accountability is becoming a pretext for viewpoint-based harassment. As conservatives we should be the first to call it out, firmly and consistently, and hold ourselves to the same standard.
Past administrations have crossed clear constitutional lines. Conservatives fought back against agencies targeting Tea Party, pro-life organizations, and Catholic parishes — and won. The last thing we should do now is establish precedents that hand the next administration the same weapons.
The practical consequences of this overreach are serious. Organizations that witness peers subjected to politically motivated audits and compliance burdens get the message quickly. That chilling effect ultimately leaves communities with fewer effective organizations and greater government dependency — the opposite of every principle conservatism has advanced for decades.
Conservatives have long recognized that the most effective solutions to community problems originate outside of government programs, in local organizations, congregations, and nonprofits that understand their communities firsthand. These groups deliver services efficiently, reflect local values, and operate without the overhead and rigidity of government bureaucracy. They can fill genuine gaps that government programs are ill-equipped to address.
Reasonable accountability ensuring organizations are fulfilling their mission is appropriate and necessary, especially those receiving taxpayer dollars. Conservatives have never opposed transparency or responsible stewardship of public funds. But increasingly, accountability is becoming a pretext for viewpoint-based harassment. As conservatives we should be the first to call it out, firmly and consistently, and hold ourselves to the same standard.
Past administrations have crossed clear constitutional lines. Conservatives fought back against agencies targeting Tea Party, pro-life organizations, and Catholic parishes — and won. The last thing we should do now is establish precedents that hand the next administration the same weapons.
The practical consequences of this overreach are serious. Organizations that witness peers subjected to politically motivated audits and compliance burdens get the message quickly. That chilling effect ultimately leaves communities with fewer effective organizations and greater government dependency — the opposite of every principle conservatism has advanced for decades.
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There is also a straightforward fiscal cost. Agency resources redirected toward ideological targets are resources not pursuing genuine fraud and waste. Politically motivated oversight does not make government leaner or more accountable. It expands bureaucracy, distorts real enforcement priorities, and undermines the credibility of legitimate oversight functions that taxpayers actually need.
With the midterms coming up, there are also clear political stakes. Recent polling of swing voters by the Freedom and Faith Defense Project identified the use of government agencies to target political opponents as a top concern — one that is actively moving voters away from Republican candidates. Opposing agency overreach is both the principled position and a winning one.
The constitutional guardrails that protect civic organizations from government pressure were not designed for one party’s benefit. They exist because the Founders understood that government power is dangerous regardless of who wields it. Conservatives have always known that.
Defending nonprofits, faith communities, and advocacy organizations from politically motivated government pressure is the clearest expression of our commitment to limited government and the Constitution. We fought for it before and we should continue to stand for it.
