The bill was unable to meet the two-thirds majority vote it needed to make it through the House last week. But, today, with only a simple majority vote required, the legislation passed the House in a 219–184 vote. This time, it garnered far less Democratic support than it had only days ago.
In the bill’s original iteration, it was popular among both Republicans and Democrats, who saw it as an appealing way to police Palestinian rights organizations after protests last year. An earlier version, in April, passed the House easily, with only 11 votes against the bill. It didn’t make it through the Senate and was reintroduced in the House this fall.
While the focus might have originally been to silence Pro-palestinian voices and non-profits, this affects all NGOs. That means, without any evidence whatsoever, the administration can declare any NGO a ‘supporter of terrorism’ and revote their tax-exempt states, completely crippling the NGO’s funding if not the entire NGO. This is disastrous. Not only for pro-palestinian NGOs rightfully advocating against genocide, but every NGO that fights for human rights.
While the focus might have originally been to silence Pro-palestinian voices and non-profits, this affects all NGOs. That means, without any evidence whatsoever, the administration can declare any NGO a ‘supporter of terrorism’ and revote their tax-exempt states, completely crippling the NGO’s funding if not the entire NGO. This is disastrous. Not only for pro-palestinian NGOs rightfully advocating against genocide, but every NGO that fights for human rights.