Hard-right groups have expanded their influence across US government, report finds

Source: The Guardian

Tue 9 Jun 2026 14.39 EDT
First published on Tue 9 Jun 2026 14.26 EDT


A new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) finds hard-right groups have increasingly expanded their influence across the US government, which is pursuing a federal fraud case into the civil rights organization. Tuesday’s report – which identified 1,263 hate and anti-government groups in operation throughout 2025 – comes less than two months after it was indicted by the government it says the hard right has infiltrated.

According to the SPLC’s annual Year in Hate and Extremism report, Donald Trump’s administration has “radically transformed government policy in favor of far-right interests and individuals” since the start of his second presidency in early 2025.

In addition to the administration’s “full, complete and unconditional” presidential pardons of approximately 1,500 people involved in the January 6 Capitol attack in 2021, the report cited the administration’s shifting the focus of federal law enforcement from combating violent crime to conducting immigration raids against marginalized communities. The report said 23% of all FBI agents have been reassigned to immigration enforcement, leading to the stripping of personnel from other areas including white-collar crime, counter-terrorism, organized crime and cybercrime.

“The Trump administration’s shift away from traditional law enforcement priorities, staffing and funding, along with its embrace of dangerously aggressive and reckless immigration enforcement tactics, has made US citizens less safe and more likely to be victimized,” the report asserted. It also said that the administration has “downplayed the threat of right-wing extremist violence” – and in the process has increased the threat posed by far-right extremism.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/09/splc-report-far-right-groups-trump-administration