Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives — and luckily for aid agencies, a clause widely dubbed the “nonprofit killer” did not pass with it.
“The bill gives the executive branch, and the Treasury secretary specifically, pretty broad authority and unilateral discretion to say: This organization supports terrorism, and I’m stripping them of their nonprofit status without any sort of due process,” said Kia Hamadanchy, a senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union.
The clause was tucked inside House Republicans’ latest tax proposal, but it wasn’t the first time it had hit Capitol Hill. Since late 2023, it’s been batted across the House and Senate, with Republicans deeming the bill “common sense,” and Democrats calling it “dangerous and unconstitutional.”
About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
