The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, is calling on all members of Congress, especially those on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, to reject and oppose the latest attempt to advance the dangerous and unconstitutional “Nonprofit Killer Bill” during tomorrow’s full committee markup of the fiscal year 2025 budget reconciliation package.
CLICK HERE: DEMAND CONGRESS REJECT THE NONPROFIT KILLER BILL
The legislation, previously introduced in the last congress as H.R. 6408 and most recently as H.R. 9495, would grant the incoming Trump administration’s Secretary of the Treasury unchecked power to revoke the nonprofit tax status of religious, charitable, and advocacy organizations, without evidence, formal charges, or due process. The measure is now buried on page 380 as “Section 112209” of the House Republican’s proposed reconciliation package, which is being marketed as part of House and President Trump’s “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill” tax proposal.
This bill is not a partisan issue: it is a First Amendment issue! Section 112209 would threaten the foundational rights of free speech, due process, and nonprofit independence. 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.
“This provision is the latest in a growing wave of legislative attacks on constitutional rights. Americans are increasingly rejecting efforts to silence political dissent in Congress, including the misleadingly titled Antisemitism Awareness Act, which seeks to criminalize student protests against Israel’s genocide on college campuses, and the Anti-Boycott IGO Act, which would undermine Americans’ ability to engage in peaceful boycotts of Israel’s human rights abuses. The “Nonprofit Killer Bill” is the next legislative attack in this Congress that must be gutted to preserve our First Amendment freedoms,” said CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw.
CAIR is urging every member of the Ways and Means Committee to VOTE NO on the inclusion of this provision and to support an expected amendment to strike the language. Three Democratic members of the committee, Reps. Brad Schneider (IL), Tom Suozzi (NY), and Jimmy Panetta (CA), previously voted in favor of the Nonprofit Killer Bill on the House floor last year. They must reverse course and vote to oppose it in committee.
This proposed “nonprofit killer” law must be rejected because:
- It grants the Treasury Secretary broad discretionary power to revoke tax-exempt status based on subjective and politically motivated criteria.
- It suppresses protected speech and targets organizations advocating for Palestinian human rights and other contentious causes.
- It violates due process by permitting the use of classified information against organizations without allowing them to challenge the evidence.
- It is unnecessary. Existing U.S. laws already prohibit and punish terrorism financing without infringing on civil liberties.
Last year, CAIR joined 100 organizations in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, stating that the Nonprofit Killer Bill “poses a direct threat to the constitutional rights of any American nonprofit, house of worship, or advocacy organization.”
CAIR also joined 135 civil liberties and human rights groups in a letter to the Senate Finance Committee opposing another version of the act.
CAIR will continue to urge all concerned Americans to take action and urge their members of Congress to oppose the advancement of this act, and its dangerous goals. CAIR remains committed to challenging this legislation in all its iterations and forms and will continue to advocate for the protection of nonprofit organizations’ rights to free speech, due process, and equal treatment under the law.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.