WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House passed legislation Thursday that would give the Treasury Department unilateral authority to strip the tax-exempt status of nonprofits it claims support terrorism, alarming civil liberties groups about how a second Trump presidency could invoke it to punish political opponents.
The bill passed 219-184, with the majority of the support coming from Republicans who accused Democrats of reversing course in their support for the “common sense” proposal only after Donald Trump was elected to a second term earlier this month.
Speaking on the House floor ahead of the vote, Rep. Jason Smith, GOP chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said his colleagues across the aisle would still be supporting the bill if Vice President Kamala Harris won the presidential United States. And we, as members of Congress, have the duty to make sure that taxpayers are not subsidizing terrorism,” the Missouri lawmaker said. “It’s very, very simple.”
But the proposal has drawn concern from a range of nonprofits who say it could be used to target organizations, including news outlets, universities, and civil society groups, that a future presidential administration disagrees with. They say it does not offer groups enough due process.
“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, said on the House floor ahead of the vote.
Critics also see it as redundant as it is already against U.S. law to support designated terrorist groups. The proposal, which now goes to the Democratic-controlled Senate where its fate is uncertain, would also postpone tax filing deadlines for Americans held hostage or unlawfully detained abroad.
The bill would create a new category of “terrorist supporting organizations,” according to an analysis by the Congressional Research Service of a previous version of the legislation. This category is defined as any organization the Treasury Secretary designates as having provided material support to a terrorist organization in the past three years.
“We think this legislation is an overreach,” said Jenn Holcomb, vice president of government affairs at 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 bill would give a nonprofit designated as a “terror-supporting” 90 days to appeal that designation. Nonprofits like the American Civil Liberties Union have said that the bill does not require that the Secretary of Treasury disclose all the evidence that was used to make the designation.
The bill text outlines how the Treasury must send “a description of such material support or resources to the extent consistent with national security and law enforcement interests.”
In a joint statement with the Independent Sector, National Council of Nonprofits, and United Philanthropy Forum, the Council on Foundations also said the bill would shift the burden of proof to the nonprofit, and even if an organization was eventually cleared, the nonprofit would “risk irreparable damage to their operations and reputation.”
If it were to become law, the bill could apply to a range of nonprofits, including membership organizations, unions and private foundations.
A version of the bill was first introduced after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the House passed a previous version of the bill in April, including with the support of some Democrats.
The bill was also brought up for a vote last week but failed to garner a two-thirds majority required under the suspension of the rules.
Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American representative in Congress, said Thursday before the vote it would be her third time voting against the bill.
“I don’t care who the president of the United States is,” she said. "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.”
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
The U.S. Capitol, including the House of Representatives, left, are seen on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
LONDON (AP) — British politician John Prescott, a pugnacious and personable former merchant seaman who rose to the post of deputy prime minister in Tony Blair's Labour government, has died at age 86.
Prescott’s family announced his death on Thursday. They said the politician, who had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, died in a care home on Wednesday “surrounded by the love of his family and the jazz music of Marian Montgomery.”
The family said Prescott had “spent his life trying to improve the lives of others, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment.”
For a decade, Prescott brought grit, humor and working-class authenticity to the government of the young, polished Blair, who became prime minister in 1997.
“He was one of the most talented people I ever encountered in politics, one of the most committed and loyal, and definitely the most unusual,” Blair said.
King Charles III said he was saddened to hear of Prescott's death.
“I remember with great fondness his unique and indomitable character, as well as his infectious sense of humor,” the king said.
An amateur boxer in his youth, Prescott had a defining moment when he punched a man who threw an egg at him during the 2001 general election.
The uproar briefly looked like it might harm the Labour Party, and Prescott’s career. But Blair’s response -– “John is John” -– cemented his folksy status.
“Many of us, all across the country, and the public, were very much on his side during that altercation,” said opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch. She called Prescott a “titan of British politics" and “one of this country’s greatest examples of social mobility.”
Born in north Wales in 1938, Prescott left school at the age of 15 and worked as a cruise ship steward before entering politics through the trade union movement — a once-common route that became less frequent after Blair rebranded the left-leaning party “New Labour” and shifted its politics toward the center,
Prescott was a proud working-class figure in a country that still has few from that background at the top of politics. He unapologetically liked the finer things in life and was nicknamed “Two Jags” by the press because he had two Jaguar luxury cars.
The egg-thrower punching incident earned him another nickname: “Two Jabs."
Prescott served as Blair’s deputy between 1997 and 2007. One of his proudest achievements was working with then-U.S. Vice President Al Gore on the landmark Kyoto Protocol climate change agreement in 1997.
Gore said he had “never worked with anyone in politics — on my side of the pond or his — quite like John Prescott.”
“He fought like hell to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol and was an unwavering champion of climate action for decades to come. I’m forever grateful to John for that commitment to solving the climate crisis and will miss him as a dear friend,” Gore said in a statement.
Prescott helped ease the sometimes tense relationship between Blair and his Treasury chief, Gordon Brown, and acted as a bridge between the party’s traditionalists and Blair’s modernizing faction. Brown said he was key to keeping the party united after Blair’s controversial decision to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Former Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson, a Blair ally, said Prescott was “the cement that kept New Labour together.”
Prescott represented his home city of Hull in northern England for four decades. After Labour lost power in 2010 he was made a member of Parliament’s unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords.
Brown, who succeeded Blair as prime minister, described Prescott as a true working-class hero.
“He wanted the good things in life for everyone and not just himself,” Brown said. “And he showed that Britain can be a country where if you work hard you can fill your potential.”
He is survived by his wife Pauline and sons Johnathan and David.
FILE -Britain's deputy prime minister John Prescott, covered in egg and ruffed up, being separated from his attacker, in the North Wales seaside resort of Rhyl where he was to address a Labour Party rally, May, 16, 2001.(David Kendall/PA via AP, File)
FILE -Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, turns towards the media with his Deputy John Prescott, on the pier at Gravesend in Kent, England during a visit to promote urban regeneration,March 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool, File)
FILE -Former Deputy leader of the Britain's Labour Party, John Prescott, holds up his Labour Party membership card as he gives a speech at a campaign rally for Andy Burnham, the Labour party leadership hopeful, at the St Pancras Parish Church in London, Aug. 24, 2015. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)
FILE -Britain's Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott during his closing speech, at the Labour Party annual Conference in Brighton, England, Sept. 30, 2004. (AP Photo/Richard Lewis), File)
FILE -Britain's Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott as he speaks to delegates at the Labour Party annual conference in Brighton, England, Sept. 26, 2004. (AP Photo/Richard Lewis, File)
