Some key excerpts:
A contingent of Democratic lawmakers rallied Tuesday evening to vote down a controversial bill that would have granted President-elect Donald Trump broad powers to censor and punish his political opponents.
Despite previous bipartisan support, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act — which would allow the Treasury Department unilateral authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit it designates as a “terrorist supporting organization” — hit a roadblock in Congress in the form of Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, who led the charge against the bill in large part due to Trump’s reelection.
In a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, 145 Democrats and one Republican voted “nay” — barely enough to deny the bill the two-thirds majority it needed to pass under “suspension of the rules,” a procedure used to fast-track bills with broad bipartisan support.
An earlier version of the bill had passed the House with near unanimous support before it languished in committee in the Senate.
Under the provisions of the bill, the Treasury secretary would have been authorized to unilaterally designate any nonprofit group deemed to be a supporter of terrorism, giving the group just 90 days to respond to a notice. After those 90 days, if appeals were unsuccessful, the group would be stripped of its tax-exempt 501©(3) status. Such a measure would likely cripple any nonprofit, and even if an appeal was successful, critics said, it would leave a mark that could scare away donors.
In the run-up to the vote, a number of Democrats spoke out in opposition, including members of the Squad such as Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Cori Bush, D-Mo.
The majority of Democrats in the House agreed, despite most of them having supported the previous iteration of the bill. Just 52 Democrats wound up backing the bill
It’s unclear if or how the bill’s supporters — including its author, Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., and co-sponsor Brad Schneider, D-Ill. — plan to advance it. The bill could easily return in the next legislative session. But the rallying of Democratic opposition and the loss of a Democratic co-sponsor indicate that it is unlikely to enjoy its previous bipartisan backing, according to Kia Hamadanchy, a senior policy counsel with the ACLU.
I posted about H.R. 9495 a couple of days ago and the danger it presented; and I thought it was important to share it got rejected too.
Going from almost unanimous support to 145 nays, is a pretty big swing. I would imagine a lot of it came from the fear of the next president abusing that power, but people contacting their Reps cannot be undersold here as well.
Over the next four years a lot of nasty bills are going to be floated, but please let this be a reminder that contacting your Congresspeople can help make a difference.
You can view the results of the vote here.
If your representative voted no, please contact them and let them know you appreciate it. I’ve heard that helps too.
If you aren’t sure who your representative is, you can find that here.
Hrm, my state reps voted yea, nay, and not voting. Got some letters to write.
That is a great idea!
If your representatives are Republican, I’ve heard it’s a good idea to frame your complaint in the form of complaining about big government/ government overreach. I’m not sure if that would convince them, but I do think it’s the most likely way…
