Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire for revenge.
On the campaign trail, he joked about being a dictator on “day one” in office, pledged to jail journalists, and threatened to retaliate against political foes who he felt had wronged him.
Now, just days after he secured a second term in the White House, Congress is already moving to hand a resurgent Trump administration a powerful cudgel that it could wield against ideological opponents in civil society.
Up for a potential fast-track vote this week in the House of Representatives, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act would grant the secretary of the Treasury Department unilateral authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit deemed to be a “terrorist-supporting organization.”
The resolution has already prompted strong opposition from a wide range of civil society groups, with more than a hundred organizations signing an open letter issued by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in September.
With Trump set to return to office, it’s more urgent than ever to beat the legislation back, said Kia Hamadanchy, a senior policy counsel at the ACLU.
“This is about stifling dissent and to chill advocacy, because people are going to avoid certain things and take certain positions in order to avoid this designation,” said Hamadanchy. “And then on top of that you have a president-elect who’s spent a lot of time on the campaign trail talking about punishing his opponents and what he wants to do to student protesters — and you’re giving him another tool.”
It’s unclear how Democrats will view the bill in light of Trump’s return to power. A spokesperson for Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), who did not oppose a previous version…
Auteur: Noah Hurowitz
