Chip Roy introduces bill to strip tax-exempt status from ‘charities’ with terror ties

“It is absurd that the US has provided organizations with ties to terrorism tax-exempt status in the US, resulting in the American people inadvertently subsidizing terror against themselves,” Roy said. “It is ridiculous, and we should have ended this long ago.”

Roy’s bill would direct the IRS to revoke nonprofit benefits from groups tied to designated terrorist organizations such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. CAIR, which Roy cites as a prime example, has a long and controversial history connecting it to radical entities.

“No organization with ties to terrorism should receive a tax benefit,” Roy said. “CAIR should immediately be stripped of its 501(c)(3) status.”

Original cosponsors include Reps. Randy Fine (FL), Byron Donalds (FL), Clay Higgins (LA), Andy Ogles (TN), Keith Self (TX), Diana Harshbarger (TN), Mary Miller (IL), Andrew Clyde (GA), Andy Biggs (AZ), and Eric Burlison (MO).

CAIR was identified by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General as an unindicted co-conspirator in the landmark Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing trial, the largest of its kind in US history, in which prosecutors linked the group’s leaders to Hamas.

The Justice Department has also listed CAIR as part of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee, a network established to promote Hamas’ goals within the United States.

In November 2023, CAIR’s national executive director and co-founder, Nihad Awad, said publicly that he was “happy to see” the Hamas atrocities of October 7, remarks that drew bipartisan condemnation and prompted the Biden administration to remove CAIR from its White House antisemitism task force in 2024.

Beyond its alleged terror ties, CAIR has also expanded its political reach through campaign donations and advocacy. Its political arm, the Unity & Justice Fund, made a six-figure donation ($100,000) to New Yorkers for Lower Costs, the largest political action committee supporting Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for New York City mayor.

Mamdani has drawn criticism for refusing to affirm Israel’s right to exist and for his past comments defending the phrase “globalize the Intifada,” widely regarded as a rallying cry for violence against Jews.

CAIR’s financial and political involvement in Mamdani’s campaign underscores what critics call the organization’s broader effort to mainstream its influence through electoral politics while maintaining ties to groups with extremist ideologies.

Watchdog groups have repeatedly sounded alarms about CAIR’s rhetoric and activities. The Anti-Defamation League stated that “antisemitism is in the DNA of CAIR. It is part of CAIR’s intrinsic fiber. CAIR leaders often traffic in antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric.”

Investigative journalist Steve Emerson has gone further, calling CAIR a “propaganda arm of Hamas” and pointing to extensive court filings, settlements, and investigative reporting linking the group to Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and financial opacity.

Earlier this year, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) also urged the IRS to open a formal investigation into CAIR, citing what he called the group’s “deep ties to terrorist organizations” and its “public support for acts of terrorism.”

If passed, Roy’s No Tax-Exemptions for Terror Act would bar the IRS from granting or maintaining nonprofit status for any organization found to have material connections to terrorism. Roy described the bill as “ending a taxpayer subsidy for terror.”

“CAIR and other nonprofits with ties to terrorism should immediately be stripped of their 501(c)(3) status,” he said. “The American people should not be forced to subsidize those who celebrate or excuse terror.”