Americans Against Government Censorship (AAGC) is a coalition of left-of-center nonprofits and labor unions that was formed in December 2024 to advocate against alleged changes to nonprofit regulations they claimed would be carried out by the Second Trump administration. Specifically, the group claimed it would push back against plans to remove the tax-exempt status of nonprofit groups which the U.S. Treasury would accuse of funding terrorist-linked entities as well as changing the rules of foreign-funded nonprofits making political contributions. ^{1 2}

Member Organizations

Americans Against Government Censorship’s website does not list its coalition members. However, media reports have noted that founding members include the AFL-CIO, Oxfam America, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Indivisible. ^{1 2}

The exact legal structure of the coalition is unknown, and as of May 2025, it does not appear in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) database of tax-exempt organizations. ³

Projects and Initiatives

The main function of Americans Against Government Censorship is to oppose various pieces of legislation related to nonprofit status and taxation. ⁴

The group was formed to oppose H.R. 9495 at the end of 2024. Known as the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act,” the stated purpose of this bill was to amend the tax code concerning Americans who are held hostage abroad, as well as to allow the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of organizations that have been determined to be supporting terrorist organizations. ¹

The controversy over the bill arose from concern from left-of-center groups that this new power would allow for the politically motivated revocation of tax-exempt status, especially concerning organizations that are involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy. The ACLU, among other organizations, argued that the bill would remove any sort of due process for organizations that the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury unilaterally declared to be supporting terrorists, noting that supporting terrorists is already a crime that would be prosecuted in the legal system. ¹

This bill was passed in the U.S. House with the support of nearly all Republican members, as well as 15 Democrats. The bill was not passed in the U.S. Senate and expired when the 118^th Congress concluded. ^{1 4}

AAGC is concerned with other legislation and potential executive orders as well. In mid-April, the coalition hosted a call-in meeting with over 5,000 “officials” from a wide array of left-of-center nonprofits to discuss the potential for an executive order that would target tax-exempt statuses, especially of environmentalist non-profits. As of May 2025, such an order has not been issued. ^{4 5}

The group has opposed attempts to introduce new restrictions on the ability of tax-exempt organizations to make political contributions after receiving foreign funding, as well as similar measures that pertain to the funding of state ballot initiatives. ⁴

Leadership

The leadership of Americans Against Government Censorship is unknown. The only person identified as an employee of the group is Caitlin Legacki, who has been cited as the group’s spokesperson. Legacki is a communications consultant who was previously a senior advisor for the Biden Administration‘s Department of the Treasury and as well as the former director of communications for the Democratic Party-aligned House Majority PAC. ^{5 6}

1. Johnson, Jake. “Free Speech Coalition Vows to Defend Nonprofits From ‘Unprecedented’ Threat.” CommonDreams.org. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://www.commondreams.org/news/free-speech-coalition.
2. “Home.” Stop Government Censorship. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://www.stopgovernmentcensorship.org.
3.  “Tax Exempt Organization Search.” IRS. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/
4. “Issues.” Stop Government Censorship. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://www.stopgovernmentcensorship.org/issues.
5. Notus.org. “Trump’s Assault on Liberal Institutions Has Nonprofits Panicking: Are…,” May 5, 2025. https://archive.ph/h64q1.
6. “Caitlin Legacki.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/clegacki/.