Republicans Sneak ‘Nonprofit Killer’ Bill into Tax Package: Urgent Calls Needed Now!

On a quiet Monday, House Republicans reintroduced a plan that would provide the Trump administration extensive powers to dismantle nonprofits it regards as political adversaries, ranging from environmental justice groups to media organizations.

Advocacy organizations like Fight for the Future brought attention to this proposal, hidden in the last pages of the draft reconciliation bill by the House Ways and Means Committee, beginning on page 380.

A discussion and review of this bill are set for Tuesday at 2:30 pm ET.

The proposal would authorize the U.S. Treasury Department to cancel the tax-exempt status of nonprofits identified as significant supporters of terrorism, offering merely a facade of due process to the targeted groups. It’s already against the law for nonprofits to support terrorism activities.

“The House is poised to give the Trump administration the power to arbitrarily remove nonprofits’ 501(c)3 status with no justified reason or opportunity for appeal. This is a critical emergency for nonprofits across the country,” stated Lia Holland, the campaigns and communications director at Fight for the Future. “If the language from last fall’s H.R. 9495 gets approved in the budget, any organization with objectives misaligned with the MAGA agenda could be obliterated with a mere nod from Trump to the Treasury.”

While the measure was approved by the Republican-majority House last year with backing from over a dozen Democrats, it failed to advance in the Senate.

“This poorly designed bill implies that under the present administration, every organization advocating for environmental, racial, LGBTQ+, gender, immigration justice, and especially those against genocide, could be at risk,” explained Holland. “If Democrats surrender to the wanton destruction of critical civil society institutions, they should be prepared for civil society to harshly retaliate against this treachery.”

The GOP has revived what critics call the “nonprofit killer bill” as the Trump administration intensifies its attack against nonprofit organizations, threatening their tax-exempt status as a broad assault on the president’s political foes.

“Since taking office, Trump and his Cabinet have been employing other methods to suppress political expression—especially pro-Palestinian speech—by deporting student activists and cancelling hundreds of student visas. He has also threatened to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status in his broader effort to control and penalize universities,” reported Noah Hurowitz from The Intercept on Monday night.

“This tax bill clause would extend the president’s reach to suppress any organization that opposes him,” added Hurowitz.

Robert McCaw, the director of government affairs at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, remarked on Monday that “this clause represents a new peak in a series of legislative attacks on constitutional freedoms.”

“CAIR is pushing every member of the Ways and Means Committee to VOTE NO on this provision and to support an upcoming amendment to remove this language,” the organization stated. “Three Democratic members of the committee—Reps. Brad Schneider (Ill.), Tom Suozzi (N.Y.), and Jimmy Panetta (Calif.)—previously supported the Nonprofit Killer Bill in the House last year. They must change their stance and oppose it in the committee.”