On October 15, 2025, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the Trump administration plans to install administration-friendly officials in the IRS Criminal Investigative Division (IRS CI) to investigate left-leaning groups and democratic donors. The WSJ report comes on the heels of Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 which directed the Treasury Department and IRS to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle networks engaged in what Trump calls “organized political violence” and domestic terrorism.
For those following the administration’s efforts to “reform” universities like Harvard, Penn, and Columbia, the administration’s reported focus on investigating left-leaning tax-exempt organizations and democratic donors should come as no surprise.
Yet, it remains unclear whether IRS CI has the resources to follow through on the administration’s directives. Although the IRS’s government shutdown contingency plan shows that the majority of IRS CI’s 3,000 employees remain at work, it is unclear how many of those employees will focus on investigating left-leaning organizations. For example, roughly 250 IRS CI agents were detailed to the Department of Homeland Security to assist with immigration enforcement. Regardless, the WSJ report suggests an escalation in the administration’s efforts to pursue individuals and organizations that it does not like.
Based on recent indictments of James Comey, Leticia James, and John Bolton, it remains to be seen whether IRS CI will conduct traditional criminal tax investigations which could take months or years. It is also unclear whether the IRS will follow its own procedures in auditing tax-exempt organizations. But tax-exempt organizations, including those that may appear to be “left-leaning” and democratic political donors should be prepared for increased, and potentially haphazard and arbitrary, IRS scrutiny.
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