Ramirez, Pressley, McGovern Open Congressional Inquiry of Trump Administration Persecution of Political Dissent, Targeting of Left-leaning Political Groups

Washington, DC - Congressmembers Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Jim McGovern (MA-02), and Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) led 23 colleagues in a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent demanding an end to the Trump Administration's policies to persecute political dissent. In the letter, members raised serious concerns regarding the deployment of the State and Treasury Departments policies against "far-left networks" as an attempt to target and silence any person, organization, or institution critical of the Administration's policies and abuses of power on a global scale.

The letter also asks for the release of all communications, advisories, and guidance between State, Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the White House regarding the implementation of the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7, an order that Trump signed last September targeting "domestic terrorism and organized political violence."

"The weaponization of the security apparatus of the state to suppress political dissent, criminalize international solidarity, and intimidate civil society is a direct assault on constitutional rights and democratic governance. Defining political opposition as an existential threat does not make communities safer-it degrades civil liberties, expands state surveillance, enables violence by state actors, and mirrors the repressive tactics of authoritarian regimes worldwide. We urge the Administration to immediately withdraw this policy, abandon plans to export the NSPM-7 framework to foreign governments, and cease deploying the State and Treasury Departments to target political speech and civil society," wrote the members.

In July, Secretary Rubio and Bessent announced the "Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism" to support President Trump's National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7)-a federal enforcement framework to target "far-left terrorists," their aligned groups, and financial backers. Despite investigations and analysis that established that right-wing attacks account for the vast majority of fatalities from domestic terrorism, the memorandum ignores all mention of right-wing extremism.

The letter is co-signed by Analilia Mejia (NJ-11), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Greg Casar (TX-35), Summer L. Lee (PA-12), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Adelita S. Grijalva (AZ-07), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (VA-08), Jesús G. "Chuy" García (IL-04), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Becca Blint (VT), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Nydia M. Velázquez(NY-07), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), Troy A. Carter Sr. (LA-02), Christian D. Menefee (TX-18), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), and Al Green (TX-09).

To read the full letter, CLICK HERE.