Do you need permission from the government to do independent research?

I wonder if there's any interest in the 'old ways' of research. Considering the U.S. is currently collapsing, I have to imagine there are higher priorities for the government than cracking down on a rogue research group. All we need is our own journal to publish in, and we could even have our own lenient IRB. The biggest issue in my mind would just be finding like-minded scientists who are interested in continuing social science research without government interference, which sounds more and more likely.