The U.S. Home handed laws Thursday that may give the Treasury Division unilateral authority to strip the tax-exempt standing of nonprofits it claims help terrorism, alarming civil liberties teams about how a second Trump presidency may invoke it to punish political opponents.
The invoice handed 219-184, with nearly all of the help coming from Republicans who accused Democrats of reversing course of their help for the “common sense” proposal solely after Donald Trump was elected to a second time period earlier this month.
Talking on the Home flooring forward of the vote, Rep. Jason Smith, GOP chair of the Home Methods and Means Committee, mentioned his colleagues throughout the aisle would nonetheless be supporting the invoice had Vice President Kamala Harris received the presidential election. “And we, as members of Congress, have the duty to make sure that taxpayers are not subsidizing terrorism,” the Missouri lawmaker mentioned. “It’s very, very simple.”
However the proposal has drawn concern from a spread of nonprofits who say it could possibly be used to focus on organizations, together with information shops, universities, and civil society teams, {that a} future presidential administration disagrees with. They are saying it doesn’t supply teams sufficient due course of.
“This bill is an authoritarian play by Republicans to expand the sweeping powers of the executive branch, to go after political enemies and stifle political dissent,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, mentioned on the Home flooring forward of the vote.
Critics additionally see it as redundant as it’s already towards U.S. regulation to help designated terrorist teams. The proposal, which now goes to the Democratic-controlled Senate the place its destiny is unsure, would additionally postpone tax submitting deadlines for People held hostage or unlawfully detained overseas.
The invoice would create a brand new class of “terrorist supporting organizations,” in line with an evaluation by the Congressional Analysis Service of a earlier model of the laws. This class is outlined as any group the Treasury Secretary designates as having supplied materials help to a terrorist group previously three years.
“We think this legislation is an overreach,” mentioned Jenn Holcomb, vp of presidency affairs on the Council on Foundations. “It would allow the Secretary of the Treasury to designate a 501c nonprofit as a terrorist organization at their discretion. And our concern is it doesn’t have enough in there to really ensure that a nonprofit understands the reasoning that a secretary designated as such.”
The invoice would give a nonprofit designated as a “terror-supporting” 90 days to attraction that designation. Nonprofits just like the American Civil Liberties Union have mentioned that the invoice doesn’t require that the Secretary of Treasury disclose all of the proof that was used to make the designation.
The invoice textual content outlines how the Treasury should ship “a description of such material support or resources to the extent consistent with national security and law enforcement interests.”
In a joint assertion with the Unbiased Sector, Nationwide Council of Nonprofits, and United Philanthropy Discussion board, the Council on Foundations additionally mentioned the invoice would shift the burden of proof to the nonprofit, and even when a corporation was ultimately cleared, the nonprofit would “risk irreparable damage to their operations and reputation.”
If it have been to grow to be regulation, the invoice may apply to a spread of nonprofits, together with membership organizations, unions and personal foundations.
A model of the invoice was first launched after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas assault on Israel and the Home handed a earlier model of the invoice in April, together with with the help of some Democrats.
The invoice was additionally introduced up for a vote final week however didn’t garner a two-thirds majority required underneath the suspension of the principles.
Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the one Palestinian-American consultant in Congress, mentioned Thursday earlier than the vote it could be her third time voting towards the invoice.
“I don’t care who the president of the United States is,” she mentioned. “This is a dangerous and unconstitutional bill that would allow unchecked power to target nonprofit organizations as political enemies and shut them down without due process.”
