Michael Arria
Mondoweiss / November 21, 2024
The House has passed H.R. 9495, a bill that would allow the Treasury Secretary to strip tax-exempt status from nonprofits. Many view the draconian legislation as an attempt to crack down on the Palestine movement.
The House has passed H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, a controversial piece of legislation that would allow the U.S. Treasury Secretary to strip tax-exempt status from nonprofits that are deemed as “terrorist supporting.” Many view the legislation as an attempt to crack down on the Palestine movement, which has faced increasing suppression since Israel began its genocidal assault on Gaza in October 2023.
The final vote was 219-184. Every Republican voted for the bill besides Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). 15 Democrats voted for the measure, down from 52 when the bill was voted on earlier this month. The final vote of that effort was 256-145, but it required a two-thirds majority in order to pass because GOP lawmakers were trying to pass the bill on a suspension vote. A previous version of the bill cleared the House in April by a vote of 382-11.
A number of organizations and lawmakers have already expressed concern over the development.
“It is appalling that in the face of overwhelming civil society opposition, 204 Republicans and 15 Democrats in the House voted in favor of a bill that will be used to strip organizations of their nonprofit status in a politically motivated fashion and without proper due process,” said Defending Rights & Dissent Policy Director Chip Gibbons in a statement. “The bill is driven by the current McCarthyite attacks on Palestine solidarity activism, but it empowers the executive branch to crackdown on charities broadly. It is intolerable for any administration to have these powers, but it is reckless for anyone who claims Trump poses a threat to democracy to hand his administration yet another weapon to use against their opponents.”
“By voting for H.R. 9495 today, the House of Representatives chose fear over freedom,” said ACLU senior federal policy counsel Kia Hamadanchy. “After over 100 years of defending civil liberties in this country, we know that the American people won’t sit quietly as politicians try to ram through anti-democratic legislation like this one. Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of people make their opposition to this bill known, flooding members with so many phone calls, texts, and emails that dozens of representatives flipped their vote. As the bill heads to the Senate, we will continue to make sure our voices are heard, and we urge them not to take this bill up before they adjourn.”
“This bill is a five-alarm fire for anyone who seeks to protect free speech, civil society and democracy,” Jewish Voice for Peace Action Political Director Beth Miller. “This bill is part of a broader MAGA assault on the fundamental right to public protest that begins with attacks on Palestinian rights groups and is aimed at outlawing all social justice movements fighting for progressive change. It is shameful that the House of Representatives passed a bill that is straight out of the well-worn authoritarian playbook. The Senate must ensure that this bill to dismantle fundamental freedoms does not move forward or become law.”
“I voted against HR 9495 because it gives any administration—including the incoming Trump administration—a tool to weaponize the federal government against civil society organizations, from unions to groups that support health care, protect immigration, and promote civil rights,” said Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL).
“I just voted NO on HR 9495 — legislation that would give Donald Trump unfettered power to punish civil society groups, news outlets, hospitals, and universities with zero due process,” tweeted Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Progressive Caucus. “It’s an authoritarian and undemocratic play by Republicans to go after political enemies.”
While many view the bill as a direct attack on the Palestine movement, anthropologist and professor Darryl Li explained in a recent article how the bill would inevitably impact a variety of progressive organizations.
“After years of repression targeting first the leftist and then the Islamist currents within Palestinian politics, the anti-charity bill now directly threatens liberal U.S. organizations as well,” writes Li. “Two Republican House committee chairs earlier this year sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding information on 20 groups, from Students for Justice in Palestine (which isn’t even a registered non-profit) to liberal behemoths like the Open Society Foundations and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Here, the right is using the bipartisan appeal of anti-Palestinian racism and the tools of the War on Terror to pursue its broader assault on liberal institutions in its quest for cultural hegemony.”
“As in so many other cases, hostility to Palestinian liberation is the tip of a spear aimed at liberal and left causes alike,” he continued. “For that reason, we should expect the right wing to continue pushing the anti-charities bill, and to find opportunities to replicate its logic in other ones. The only question is whether enough liberals will wake up to the threat in time.”
Michael Arria is Mondoweiss’ U.S. correspondents
