The House of Representatives blocked H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, 256-145.
This bill would have allowed Trump to remove tax-exempt status from any organization he deems “terrorist supporting.”
Because the House of Representatives was attempting to move the bill on suspension, it required a two-thirds majority in order to pass, and it did not pass.
This victory is temporary because suspension is at the Speaker’s discretion, and the Republicans will try again. Republicans have the house and could easily re-introduce and pass this during Trump’s term.
Tonight, I voted against H.R. 9495, legislation that would give Donald Trump additional pathways to weaponize our federal government and target his political enemies.
– Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), pictured above
The freedom to dissent without fear of government retribution is a vital part of any well-functioning democracy, and now is not the time to grant the executive branch new powers to investigate and functionally shut down and silence its critics. Tonight enough members of the House voted to block giving the executive branch new broad and easily abused powers. This is only the first such battle we expect to see in the coming years, and we will continue to remain vigilant in working to ensure that the authority of the executive branch is appropriately limited.
– Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at ACLU:
This is only a temporary victory. Project Mayday will be watching for the re-introduction of H.R. 9495, and the general passage of policies that strip power from non-Trump compliant organizations, like this one.
❤️ May
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