Our democracy’s immune system is compromised

Image description: Magnified connective tissue cells in a blood sample. Photo by Bioscience Image Library by Fayette Reynolds on Unsplash

The role of our immune system is to keep germs and other invaders out of our bodies and attack harmful foreign substances that get in to keep us safe and healthy. The Cancer Research Institute describes our immune system this way: “The immune system is the body’s natural defense system. It does not reside in one single part of the body—rather, it is made up of a network of cells, molecules, tissues, and organs working together to protect the body. Each of these elements plays a key role in how the immune system works and its function as a whole, which is crucial to preventing infection or disease.”

The mission of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights. The immune system is a good metaphor for the intended role of DOJ and some other federal agencies—they are designed to uphold the constitution and our laws and protect American citizens from criminal elements and other hazards. It is one of several institutions that form a network to defend our democracy and keep it healthy.

I would argue that many nonprofits play specific roles in our democracy’s immune system as well by facilitating voluntary action and civic engagement, caring for people, and challenging behaviors that run counter to our nation’s highest values. We complement the missions of DOJ, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, etc. I’ve also heard the nonprofit sector described as the “connective tissue” of our country.

If this is true, then the current activities of DOJ and other federal agencies can be likened to our American democracy’s immune system going haywire, as our body’s immune system does when we have an autoimmune disorder. With autoimmune dysfunction, the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue, failing to distinguish between our body’s own cells and harmful invaders.

DOJ is currently engaging in politically-motivated attacks on nonprofits and public institutions. Concern about DOJ going after nonprofits has been mounting since President Trump issued the Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence memo on September 25, 2025, directing federal agencies to investigate, prosecute, and disrupt nonprofit organizations the Administration (mis)characterizes as supporting or funding domestic terrorism. The same day, the New York Times reported that Trump was directing DOJ to investigate and seek to bring criminal charges against George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. Accusations and charges have been levied against many organizations since then. In January, DOJ targeted hospitals such as the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, subpoenaing records related to the provision of gender-affirming care.

This week, DOJ indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (accusations of donor and bank fraud connected to its use of paid informants to gather information about hate groups) and announced an investigation of the University of Washington (for anti-semitism, based on off-campus activities of the group Students United For Palestinian Equality and Return-UW which is not currently a registered UW student organization). In addition, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced that it was launching a fair housing investigation of the Washington State Housing Finance Commission’s Covenant Housing Program, a bipartisan effort to redress the impact on redlining on Black residents and their descendants through favorable housing loans and assistance with closing costs. These are clear attacks on organizations that have failed to align with Trump’s policy priorities—which is not a crime!

I list all these instances to illustrate that this governmental autoimmune disorder is advanced, widespread, and already causing lots of destruction. Let’s hope the body politic can heal itself soon.