“Civicus downgraded the United States’ civic space rating from “narrowed” to “obstructed,” citing a sharp erosion of fundamental freedoms under a year of Trump-era actions—including militarized crackdowns on protests, expanded ICE deployments, restrictive laws, surveillance and harassment of civil society, suppression of campus speech, pressure on journalists, threats to revoke broadcast licenses, lawsuits against media outlets, defunding of NPR and PBS, and the launch of a government-run propaganda outlet—warning that these developments reflect a systematic attempt to weaken dissent, undermine independent media, and restrict civic participation across the country.”