The Freedom From Religion Foundation is condemning Wednesday’s House committee hearing targeting the Southern Poverty Law Center as a dangerous weaponization of government power.

The Judiciary Committee hearing, framed by Republicans as an investigation into the center’s extremism reporting, quickly devolved into an intimidation campaign aimed not just at one organization, but at the entire nonprofit and civil rights community.

“This hearing was not about accountability, it was about intimidation,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The message from Trump’s allies was unmistakable: If your organization challenges Christian nationalism, white supremacy or MAGA extremism, the federal government may come after you next.”

At a press conference before the hearing, Rep. Clay Fuller, R-Ga., characterized advocacy groups as “this nonprofit-industrial complex that is seeking to destroy our country each and every day.” Such rhetoric mirrors the language authoritarian movements historically use to dehumanize dissenters, portray civil society organizations as enemies of the state and justify political retaliation.

Explicitly religious and culture war rhetoric was heard repeatedly at the hearing by Republican members on the committee. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, accused the Southern Poverty Law Center of targeting “good pro-family organizations” while Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., lamented, “They just hate Christianity, don’t they?” Rep. Brad Knott, R-N.C., asked, “Do you know why there is such fervent resistance, or I would say fervent hatred for traditional viewpoints for Christians?”

Several right-wing groups participating in a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday morning, including the Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom, have long advocated for policies eroding the separation of church and state and expanding Christian privilege in government. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins urged lawmakers to investigate not just the center, but also other organizations connected to its work. Conservative commentator Tyler O’Neil called for probes into the group “and its offshoots.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., portrayed in his testimony the Justice Department prosecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center as an authoritarian attempt to target ideological opponents. He warned that the Trump administration has systematically dismantled efforts to combat far-right extremism, pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionists and redirected federal resources toward targeting perceived political enemies.

Maya Wiley, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, who was grilled in testimony, said that the campaign against the Southern Poverty Law Center is part of “a coordinated attack on civil rights nonprofits” and an attempt to use “the powers of prosecution as a weapon” against organizations whose speech and advocacy the administration dislikes.

FFRF agrees.

“We are witnessing systematic efforts to delegitimize and criminalize organizations that monitor extremism and defend constitutional rights,” Gaylor says. “Today, it is the Southern Poverty Law Center. Tomorrow, it could be any organization that refuses to conform to this administration’s ideology.”

FFRF says it stands in solidarity with the Southern Poverty Law Center and all organizations facing politically motivated retaliation for defending civil liberties and civil rights.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 42,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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