Republicans have revived an effort to pass legislation deemed the “nonprofit killer” following warnings from left-wing and civil society groups that the move would give President Donald Trump broad leeway to crush dissent and attack his political opponents.
The proposal was tacked onto the end of Republicans’ tax proposal, unveiled on Monday, which Republicans are planning to pass via reconciliation in the coming months. This means that the bill could pass via a simple majority vote in the House and the Senate.
The legislation would give presidential administrations the ability to revoke groups’ nonprofit status by deeming them “terrorist supporting organizations” with virtually no recourse or due process. This would deal a killing blow to many nonprofit groups, not just taking away a crucial source of tax savings but also damaging relationships with donors.
The bill, known in the last congressional session as H.R. 9495, passed the House as standalone legislation in November in a 219 to 184 vote. Fifteen Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in voting “yes.” Civil society groups and experts have said that the bill is not only blatantly unconstitutional, but also represents a major threat to first amendment free speech rights.
Republicans who introduced the bill have said that it is aimed at groups advocating for Palestinian rights. This means that the bill would likely particularly target Muslim and Arab advocacy groups, advocates have said, which have already long faced suppression.
The legislation “would threaten the foundational rights of free speech, due process, and nonprofit independence,” said the Council on American-Islamic Rights (CAIR) in a statement. “It would allow the federal government to silence and financially dismantle organizations, particularly Muslim, Palestinian, and human rights groups, that dare to criticize U.S. foreign policy or call out Israel’s genocide in Gaza and attacks on civilians the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.”
CAIR pointed out that the legislation is just the latest in a long string of attacks on pro-Palestine protesters and advocates, including a recently introduced bill that would prohibit Americans from boycotting Israel.
Experts have also warned, however, that Trump could use the new powers to crush any group that disagrees with him on issues like the climate crisis, racism and police brutality, and more. Trump has already threatened to revoke the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, after the institution said it would resist his efforts to control their hiring practices and scour departments for supposed “antisemitism,” which the administration uses as a code word for pro-Palestine sentiment.
“This is a five-alarm fire for nonprofits nationwide,” Lia Holland, campaigns and communications director for Fight for the Future, told Common Dreams. “If the text of last autumn’s H.R. 9495 is passed in the budget, any organization with goals that do not line up with MAGA can be destroyed with a wink from Trump to the Treasury.”
Over a hundred civil liberties and human rights groups signed and sent numerous letters to congressional leaders urging them to oppose the legislation last year. They warned that the mere passage of the bill could result in a huge chilling effect on advocacy groups across the country.
“The executive branch could use this authority to target its political opponents and use the fear of crippling legal fees, the stigma of the designation, and donors fleeing controversy to stifle dissent and chill speech and advocacy,” read a letter from a coalition of nearly 350 groups last year.
“And while the broadest applications of this authority may not ultimately hold up in court, the potential reputational and financial cost of fending off an investigation and litigating a wrongful designation could functionally mean the end of a targeted nonprofit before it ever has its day in court,” the groups went on.
--30--
Written by Sharon Zhang. Cross-posted from Truthout.
