It didn’t take long for “Trump Derangement Syndrome” to strike Congress again, said House Republicans who battled Thursday to pass a bill to strip tax-exempt status from nonprofit groups that provide material support to terrorists.
Two months ago, the legislation was cruising through Congress and cleared a House committee unanimously.
That bipartisan consensus crumbled after Donald Trump’s presidential election this month. Democrats said they now fear what Mr. Trump might do with his power and his “enemies’ list.”
“With Trump’s election, the conditions have changed,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat who had backed the bill in committee. “The dangers of granting additional power to him are far outweighed by any benefits from this bill.”
The bill cleared the House on a 219-184 vote, with 15 Democrats joining all but one Republican in favor. Its prospects in the Senate are dimmer because of Democrats’ opposition and a dwindling legislative calendar.
Republicans said the fight was a worrying sign that Democrats are reviving their legislative strategy of total resistance to Mr. Trump despite his convincing electoral win.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, New York Republican and one of the chief sponsors of the bill, blamed Democrats’ reversal on Trump Derangement Syndrome.
“By the way, there’s no vaccine and no cure that we know of right now for that, which is obvious from what we’re seeing,” she said.
Nonprofit status is a taxpayer subsidy, and Republicans said it was appalling to think that U.S. money was indirectly supporting terrorist activities.
“If a nonprofit organization is funding terrorism, you lose your tax-exempt status,” said Rep. Jason Smith, Missouri Republican and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
He said the bill’s targets include a U.S. nonprofit that funded a journalist working with Hamas who held a hostage in his home. That nonprofit still has tax-exempt status, Mr. Smith said.
The bill would give the Treasury Department and the IRS the power to strip tax-exempt status from U.S. nonprofits deemed to be giving material support to terrorist organizations. Under current law, designated terrorist groups cannot be tax-exempt, but that doesn’t apply to those who support them.
The legislation grants leniency to hostages held by terrorist groups, ensuring they don’t face tax penalties because they are unable to file in captivity.
A version of the nonprofit status bill cleared the House in April on a 382-11 vote as part of its expedited calendar reserved for uncontroversial measures. The current version of the legislation, with the hostage and tax-exempt provisions, cleared the Ways and Means Committee on a 38-0 vote on Sept. 11.
When Republicans tried to bring the bill to the full chamber last week, 144 Democrats opposed it, denying the two-thirds majority needed on the expedited calendar.
This week, that opposition grew to 183 Democrats.
Mr. Smith called the about-face “insanity.”
Some Democrats acknowledged that Mr. Trump played a prominent role in their change of heart.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Washington Democrat, voted for the legislation in April. She now says she fears Mr. Trump would label environmental groups as “ecoterrorists” or try to shut down hospitals involved in “reproductive care.”
“Republicans are fixated on giving unchecked powers to the Trump administration,” she said. “Weaponizing the government is the foundation of Trump’s Project 2025.”
Rep. Donald Beyer, a Virginia Democrat who voted in favor of the bill in April and September, said Thursday that he always had “concerns” but had now become entirely swayed by the outcry of left-leaning advocacy groups.
“We have all woken up to the potential, not just because of Donald Trump but because the nonprofits that could be affected by it are aware of its impact,” he said.
Opponents include the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP, Planned Parenthood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
CAIR called the legislation the “nonprofit killer bill.”
“This bill dangerously weaponizes the Treasury against nonprofit organizations and houses of worship — Christian, Jewish or Muslim — that dare to support Palestinian and Lebanese human rights or criticize Israel’s genocidal actions,” said Robert S. McCaw, CAIR’s government affairs director.
The ACLU said Thursday’s vote “chose fear over freedom.”
The groups’ campaigns peeled off several dozen Democrats who supported the bill just a week ago. Among them was Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who will sit in the Senate next year.
The 15 Democrats who supported the bill were largely moderate, and several were Jewish.
Opponents said the legislation leaves no guardrails and would give a president, through the Treasury secretary, full authority to strip an entity of tax-exempt status.
Republicans said the bill has protections for nonprofits, including an opportunity to “cure” themselves by clawing back any money they send to a terrorist organization and certifying, in writing, not to do so again.
Groups can also file with the IRS’s independent appeals office or challenge their designation in federal courts.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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