TERROR FINANCINGSupport Dwindles for Cracking Down on Nonprofit Terror Financing
The overwhelming bipartisan support a plan to revoke tax exemptions for nonprofits deemed supportive of terrorist organizations once enjoyed has dwindled as critics worry about constitutional overreach.
A plan moving through Congress may soon revoke tax exemptions for nonprofits deemed supportive of terrorist organizations.
The overwhelming bipartisan support it once enjoyed, however, has dwindled as critics worry about constitutional overreach.
Supporters blame the sudden reversal on something more immediate: distrust of the incoming presidential administration.
In April, the House passed H.R. 6408 in a vote 382-11. It is a bill extending power to the Secretary of the Treasury to revoke tax-exempt status from any organization that supports terrorist organizations.
Though the bill did not gain traction after the initial vote, lawmakers again voted on the exact same language added into H.R. 9495, a proposal that would also alleviate fines and penalties from missed tax deadlines for Americans held hostage abroad.
This time, however, it made a public splash as members of Congress received pushback from constituents and non-profit organizations alike. Joining activists long concerned for the future of Palestinian aid, domestic organizations were moved to speak out against the bill out of concern for their own survival.
The first attempt to pass the proposal with a supermajority failed mid-month, and it returned to the House floor last Thursday for debate. The margin of support this time was much narrower at 219-184.
The only difference, Republicans say, is the incoming president.
Sponsor Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., said that since the election, the bill had become the subject of “mass political hysteria.”
“I urge my colleagues to grab some common sense,” she said, noting that they were suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome.”
Rep Lloyd Smucker, R-Penn., called the reversal “the most bizarre argument I’ve heard since I’ve been in Congress.”
Opponents across the aisle worried that the bill could sanction Trump’s retaliation against non-profit organizations he deems to be hostile toward him, including major bodies like the American Civil Liberties Union.
“This is the death penalty bill that we’re considering today, the bill that empowers Donald Trump to extinguish the life of any non-profit, of any civic society group which happens to be on his enemies list,” said Rep. Lloyd Dogget, D-Texas.
He and others argued that the House could easily find unanimous consent for the first half of the bill granting tax relief to hostages, but the addition of the tax status portion goes too far.
