Nspm 7 And The Constitution A Dangerous
On September 25, 2025, the Trump administration issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.” The memorandum explicitly identifies anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity, extremism on migration, race, and gender, and hostility against those who hold so-called traditional American views on family, religion, and morality as indicators of domestic terrorism. Unlike many previous NSPMs, which are replete with terminology on respect for individual privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties, NSPM-7 reads like a MAGA campaign speech, singling out acts of violence against right-wing figures, such as Charlie Kirk and the president himself, while ignoring violence against so-called radical liberals, or those who oppose the president.
This memorandum dictates a strategy to investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations identified as ‘fomenting political violence or disrupting law enforcement activities,’ including aggressive ICE raids. It also directs the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate domestic terrorism a national priority area and to allocate funding to detect, prevent, and protect against threats arising from this area.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in an October 15, 2025, article, ‘How NSPM-7 Seeks to Use “Domestic Terrorism” to Target Nonprofits and Activists,’ called NSPM-7 a ‘deliberate attempt to sow fear and intimidate and silence opposition to the president’s abuses.’ The ACLU stated that the memorandum violates the First Amendment rights to freedom of belief, speech, and association; the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures; the Fifth Amendment right to due process; and the fundamental right to equal protection under federal law. In other words, with a stroke of his presidential pen, Trump has eliminated most of the rights granted to citizens by the Constitution.
The overbroad, hyper-partisan language of NSPM-7 paves the way for wholesale violations of individual rights on a scale not seen since the antebellum period. For example, could an individual identifying as Buddhist be deemed anti-Christian, and thus subject to government surveillance, or even prosecution? What about a scholar of American history who insists on publishing factual accounts of government atrocities against Native Americans? Would that be considered anti-Americanism?
We are already seeing government actions under the rubric of NSPM-7 that are troubling. On December 19, 2025, an opinion piece in The New Republic cited an article in The Guardian stating that the FBI had launched investigations across the U.S. against ‘threats against immigration enforcement activity,’ referring to the use of encrypted messaging apps to discuss ICE and its activities. A December 26, 2025, news article quoted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem saying that videotaping ICE agents on operations was equivalent to violence against them. A Homeland Security spokesperson called recording or following federal law enforcement, ‘sounds like obstruction of justice.’ The courts have rejected this view, holding that recording law enforcement operations absent physical interference or danger is protected under the First Amendment. The government’s position on recording ICE activities conveniently ignores that government film crews routinely film their raids for use in their propaganda messages.
What we’re seeing with NSPM-7 and subsequent actions is yet another executive overreach. It is an attempt by this administration to selectively rewrite the Constitution by executive fiat to intimidate and silence any voices that disagree with the president and his minions. Fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution are under threat. They will continue to be threatened until Congress finds its lost courage and exerts its constitutional obligation and duty to pass laws and to rein in a runaway executive before the Constitution is nothing but an abbreviated version of Article 2, with the rest smothered under an avalanche of executive orders and decision memoranda, and our democracy will have disappeared.
Charles A. Ray served 20 years in the U.S. Army, including two tours in Vietnam. He retired as a senior US diplomat, serving 30 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, with assignments as ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Republic of Zimbabwe, and was the first American consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He also served in senior positions with the Department of Defense and is a member of The Steady State.
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 360 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.