December 15, 2025

The Honorable Chip Roy, Chairman
The Honorable Mary Gay Scanlon, Ranking Member
Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government
Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Roy and Ranking Member Scanlon:

On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the undersigned 257 civil rights, faith, and nonprofit organizations, we write to express our profound concern about tomorrow’s hearing and the dangerous pattern it represents. We stand united in condemning this effort to discredit an institution that has worked tirelessly to serve our communities, protect our rights, and advance opportunity for all.

We believe that everyone in this country deserves to be treated with dignity—free from discrimination, with real freedom and opportunity—no matter their race, gender, zip code, or background. This promise, however, is not self-executing. It relies on everyday people and community organizations to stand ready to uphold it when it comes under strain.

This hearing is not about any single organization—it is about a broader effort to use government power to silence people. The government is targeting groups that check abuses of power and that ensure that democracy belongs to all of us. This includes civil rights, community-based, humanitarian, and faith-based organizations that speak from deeply held convictions and provide essential services across the country.

This precedent should concern every Member of Congress regardless of party. The same tools used to target one set of organizations today can tomorrow be turned against anyone that a future Congress or administration views as hostile to its political agenda.

Across nearly every sector of public life, the government is rolling back civil rights protections while unlawfully targeting the organizations that defend and strengthen those rights. Civil rights safeguards are being dismantled in voting, education, housing, employment, healthcare, and more. At the same time, nonprofit organizations, advocates, and watchdogs that challenge discrimination and government overreach are being targeted in an effort to push them out of the public square—eroding both legal protections and democratic oversight. We have witnessed:

• Threats to designate civil rights and community groups as “domestic terrorists” and revoke their nonprofit status;
• Grants terminated without justification or due process;
• Targeted government investigations aimed at discouraging lawful speech and chilling public participation;
• Public intimidation campaigns designed to isolate and discredit community organizations;
• Pressure on law firms, media, corporations, faith leaders, and nonprofits to sever long-standing relationships with vulnerable communities for fear of government retaliation; and
• Civil rights laws weaponized against the very communities they were designed to protect.

The tactic is familiar: intimidate independent voices, deflect from the real issues facing the country, and mete out retribution on anyone who dares to challenge those in power. Our nation has seen, across different eras and under administrations of both parties, how governmental power can be misused to suppress dissent—from McCarthy-era investigations to federal surveillance and harassment of civil rights, religious, labor, and anti-war leaders through efforts like the FBI’s COINTELPRO program.

At stake is whether people—regardless of their viewpoint—can express themselves without fear of government retaliation. If organizations and people can be targeted for their analysis, advocacy, or disagreement with those in power, then none are safe.

If we don’t speak out against these attacks, it will clear the path for the dismantling of freedom of speech and civil rights and the repression of dissent.

We urge members of this Committee to reject the abuse of congressional oversight to target organizations for their lawful work. Congress should instead focus on the serious challenges facing the American people.

Respectfully submitted,

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

100% Democracy: An Initiative for Universal Voting
18 Million Rising
50501 The People’s Movement
ACLU of New Jersey
Advancement Project
AFL-CIO
African American Policy Forum
AFT | Education, Health Care, Public Services
All Voting is Local
Alliance for Justice
American Association of People with Disabilities
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Atheists
American Civil Liberties Union
American Constitution Society
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
American Friends Service Committee
American Humanist Association
American Oversight
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
Americans for Financial Reform
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Amnesty International USA
Andrew Goodman Foundation
Arab American Institute (AAI)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote)
Asian Law Alliance
Association for Special Children and Families
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Avodah
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Bedrock
Bend the Arc
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Black Voters Matter Fund
Brennan Center for Justice
CAIR-Georgia
Campaign Legal Center
Center for American Progress
Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Justice and Accountability
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Media and Democracy
Center for Reproductive Rights
Center for Responsible Lending
Center on Faith and Justice
CenterLink
Charity & Security Network
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Civil Rights Movement Archive (CRMA)
Clean Elections Texas
Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues
Climate Defense Project
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
Coalition on Human Needs
Common Cause
Communities United Against Police Brutality
Compassion & Choices
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Constitutional Accountability Center
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA)
Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action
Declaration for American Democracy
Defending Rights & Dissent
Democracy Alliance
Democracy Defenders Action
Democracy Forward
Demos
Desiree Alliance
EdTrust
Education Law Center
EduColor
Endangered Species Coalition
Equal Ground Action Fund
Equal Justice Society
Equal Rights Advocates
Equality California
Everybody Votes Campaign
Fair Count
Fair Elections Center
Fair Fight Action
FairVote
Family Equality
Family Voices NJ
Feminist Majority
Feminist Majority Foundation
FFRF Action Fund
Free Press Action
Freedom From Religion Foundation
Freethought Society
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Funders for Justice
Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda
Georgia Conservation Voters
Get Free
GLAAD
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law)
Global Justice Center
Grassroots International
Greenpeace USA
Haitian Bridge Alliance
Hispanic Federation
Hispanics in Philanthropy
Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative
Human Rights Campaign
Hyams Foundation
Impact Fund
Indivisible
Indivisible Santa Fe
Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights
Interfaith Alliance
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Japanese American Citizens League
Jewish Community Action
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Labor Committee
Just Future Project
Justice Connection
Justice2Jobs Sacramento
Juvenile Law Center
Kataly Foundation
Kids Passport to Adventure
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA)
LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Lawyers for Good Government
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
League of Women Voters of the United States
Legal Aid at Work
Legal Defense Fund (LDF)
Legal Rights Center
LGBTQ Center OC
MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund)
Matthew Shepard Foundation
Mi Familia Vota
Movement Advancement Project
Movement for Black Lives
Movement Strategy Center
MoveOn
Muslim Advocates
Muslim Public Affairs Council
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Association of Social Workers
National Black Child Development Institute
National Black Sisters Conference
National CAPACD
National Center for Law and Economic Justice
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients)
National Council of Jewish Women
National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
National Education Association
National Employment Law Project
National Employment Lawyers Association
National Health Law Program
National Hispanic Media Coalition
National Homelessness Law Center
National Housing Law Project
National Institute for Workers’ Rights
National Institute of Reproductive Health
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
National Network of Abortion Funds
National Organization For Women
National Partnership for Women and Families
National Tongan American Society
National Urban League
National Voter Corps
National Women’s Law Center
Native American Rights Fund
NBJC
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
New Jewish Narrative
New Mexico Environmental Law Center
New York Jewish Agenda
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
North Carolina Asian Americans Together
Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health
OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates
OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates Greater Cleveland
one-n-ten
Onyx Impact
Our Family Coalition
Oxfam America
Pax Christi USA
People For the American Way
People Power United
People’s Parity Project
PERIL
PFLAG National
Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Poverty & Race Research Action Council
PowerSwitch Action
Pregnancy Justice
Project On Government Oversight
Protect Democracy
Public Citizen
Public Justice
Public Rights Project
Race Forward
Reproaction
Reproductive Freedom for All
Reproductive Justice Action Collective
Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center
SAGE
Salvation and Social Justice
Santa Clara Law – International Human Rights Clinic
Secular Student Alliance
Secure Elections Network
SEIU
Shriver Center on Poverty Law
Silver State Equality
Sojourners
Southern Birth Justice Network
SPAN Parent Advocacy Network
Stand Up America
STAND UP MOBILE
Teaching for Change
The Advocates for Human Rights
The Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice
The Arc of the United States
The Carter Center
The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP)
The Center for Learner Equity
The Chamberlain Network
The Nexus Project
The Ocean Project
The Redwood Justice Fund
The Restaurant Opportunities Center of Pennsylvania (ROC PA)
The Secular Coalition for America
The Sikh Coalition
The Voter Participation Center
The Workers Circle
Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center
Tides
TransAthlete
Transgender Law Center
Transparency International U.S.
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
U.S.-Canada Human Rights Cities Alliance
UnidosUS
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry
Vera Institute of Justice
Voices for Progress
Voto Latino
War Prevention Initiative
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Welcoming America
Western States Center
Win Without War