On Thursday, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that would give authority to the Treasury Department to revoke a 501c non-profit’s tax-exempt status if they’re believed to support terrorism.

House Resolution 9495, also known as the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act,” was sponsored by Rep. Tenney Claudia (R-NY) and passed through the house in a 219–184 vote. It has gone through multiple different forms since it was initially introduced in response to pro-Palestine organizers in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

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According to anthropologist and legal scholar Darryl Li, who spoke to Democracy Now, this bill exists exclusively as a means for the right-wing to crush their political opponents, especially those who advocate for the rights of Palestinians, who were recently found by the International Criminal Court to be victims of war crimes enacted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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“This bill is essentially a civil rights disaster, that … would allow the government to shut down nonprofits on the smear of being terrorist-supporting organizations…. This law requires an accusation with no evidence, but a tie-in. It’s an accusation that nonprofits are supporting a group on one of the existing international terrorism lists… The bill is essentially discriminatory by design,” he said. “Initially, it did have significant bipartisan support, because, of course, anti-Palestinian racism is one of the great bipartisan unifiers in Congress.”

Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) justified the bill as a plain way to defund terrorism. “We, as members of Congress, have the duty to make sure that taxpayers are not subsidizing terrorism. It’s very, very simple,” he said on the House floor. 

Smith didn’t provide evidence that any major U.S. non-profit group has ever supported terrorism.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian-American in Congress, said of the bill, “I don’t care who the president of the United States is. 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.”

The bill doesn’t just pose a danger to advocates for war refugees trapped in Gaza, but also possibly to LGBTQ+ nonprofits as well. As the Trump-Vance campaign spent record numbers on anti-trans ad spending, it is increasingly likely that they could use this bill as a pretense to attack the many nonprofits that advocate for LGBTQ+ individuals. Li details that this could be the case for just about anyone who is a political opponent of the ruling administration.

“With the efforts of civil society groups to ring the alarm and educate members of Congress about the dangers of this bill, not only for Palestine advocacy, but broadly, for any number of causes, and, of course, with the election of Donald Trump, more and more Democrats have awoken to the danger,” he said.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, agrees that this could be used to attack anyone who is a political opponent. “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,” she said on the House floor.

Li says it is extremely unlikely for the bill to harm any right-wing conservative groups, who are often the ones lobbying terrorism accusations at their political opponents.

“Right-wingers and white supremacists in Congress can support this bill, with the assurance that their allies, right-wing extremist groups, are highly, highly unlikely to ever be targeted by this bill, because there isn’t going to — it’s much less likely that they will be smeared with an accusation of being tied to an international terrorist organization that’s already on one of the government lists,” Li said.

Groups that could be on the chopping block with this bill include the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign, as well as nonprofit news outlets like Mother Jones or ProPublica.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) further agrees that the bill could be extremely authoritarian depending on how it is implemented, especially in the wake of Trump’s election.

“Authoritarianism is not born overnight — it creeps in,” Doggett said. “A tyrant tightens his grip not just by seizing power but when he demands new powers and when those who can stop him willingly cede and bend to his will.”

Still, opponents of the bill hold out hope that it can be rightfully opposed and defeated in the Senate where it will need 60 votes to become law — Democrats have a slim majority in the chamber, though Republicans will hold a 53-seat majority in the 100-member chamber starting in January.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said on BlueSky that activists reaching out to their representatives played a significant role in reducing the bill’s support in the House.

“Was there today for the H.R. 9495 vote (bill that would have allowed labeling nonprofits as terrorist supporting organizations). Voted no, of course – but I do want to report that the activism DID work and persuaded members. I thought it’d be a lonely NO vote, which we take often. It wasn’t.”

Was there today for the H.R. 9495 vote (bill that would have allowed labeling nonprofits as terrorist supporting organizations). Voted no, of course – but I do want to report that the activism DID work and persuaded members. I thought it’d be a lonely NO vote, which we take often. It wasn’t.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@aoc.bsky.social) November 12, 2024 at 10:55 PM

“In comparison, a similar bill was brought up before the House earlier this year. There was much less organizing against it and it got further then. Today’s vote was a very different story. The attention + organizing played a role. If you can thank your rep for voting NO, please do so. It matters.”

In comparison, a similar bill was brought up before the House earlier this year. There was much less organizing against it and it got further then. Today’s vote was a very different story. The attention + organizing played a role. If you can thank your rep for voting NO, please do so. It matters.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@aoc.bsky.social) November 12, 2024 at 11:00 PM

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