The Sunrise Movement, the youth-led organization that helped turn the Green New Deal into a national conversation, is shifting its focus from climate policy to confronting authoritarianism.
According to the Guardian, the move follows escalating crackdowns on universities, protests, and environmental protections under the Trump administration's second term.
In an open letter to members, Sunrise executive director Aru Shiney-Ajay warned that "every day, Donald Trump is seizing power and shredding the Constitution," calling for young people to resist new federal efforts to limit dissent.
Co-founder and spokesperson Stevie O'Hanlon said the shift is necessary to preserve the foundation for any future climate progress.
"In order to win the bold action that we'll need to prevent climate catastrophe, we're going to need a country where we have the right to dissent and protest," O'Hanlon told The Guardian.
The organization is already mobilizing locally. Sunrise chapters recently organized student walkouts in Washington, D.C., and launched support drives for immigrant workers at Duke University after deportation orders ended their employment.
The group also plans to prepare for a nationwide student mobilization on May 1, 2028 — the same day United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain has called for a general strike.
The pivot comes as climate issues have slipped down the list of top voter concerns, with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm noting, "You're not going to see a lot of politicians using the word 'climate.'"
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However, O'Hanlon said the group's broader focus doesn't mean abandoning the Green New Deal. Instead, Sunrise sees its new work as protecting the democratic space needed to achieve it.
"We need to defend rights to free speech, [but] we also need to be serious about overhauling our democracy so that someone like Donald Trump can't consolidate power in this kind of way ever again," O'Hanlon said.
As the group expands its mission, it's once again turning youthful energy toward defending the systems that make collective climate action possible.
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