Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, has again failed voters who reelected her to protect democracy from the next Trump administration. She disgraced herself by voting to pass H.R. 9495 — the so-called “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act,” which contains poison pill language that will allow Trump to unilaterally dissolve nonprofits he doesn’t like.
This bill was opposed by the ACLU and almost 300 other nonprofits, fearing it removes another guardrail that would prevent Trump from attacking civil society. According to the ACLU, such organizations include those advocating for “civil liberties, religious, reproductive health, immigrant rights, human rights, racial justice, LGBTQ+” environment and education.
Current law provides for removing nonprofit status from terrorist-supporting organizations. But this bill removes the requirement to provide any evidence or an explanation, so there’s no language to dispute removal of the designation.
In a letter responding to constituents who advocated against H.R. 9495, Perez gratuitously writes that an independent Treasury Department and the IRS Independent Office of Appeals would adjudicate enforcement. Thus, she willfully ignores Trump’s promise to reenact Schedule F, which will ensure that the civil service is staffed by his loyalists.
