If passed, this bill would threaten First Amendment-protected speech

Thanks to over 7,000 letters and calls from Common Cause members like you, we helped build unprecedented opposition to this legislation

Pamela, I have good news and bad news about H.R. 9495, the bill that would allow the president to SHUT DOWN any nonprofit organization whose First Amendment-protected speech he deems a threat to the country. [1] The good news: thanks to over 7,000 letters and calls from Common Cause members like you, we helped build unprecedented opposition to this legislation – convincing 39 representatives to flip their vote and oppose this bill. [2] The bad news? Despite flipping several votes through your actions, 15 Democrats and nearly every Republican still voted to pass H.R. 9495 on Thursday. [3] Now, this dangerous legislation heads to the Senate for a vote. With your action, I'm confident we can convince enough Senators to BLOCK this legislation. We can't take our foot off the gas, Pamela – this bill is simply too dangerous. On paper, H.R. 9495 seems harmless, even helpful. But in reality, this bill will give a future Trump administration unilateral power to strip tax-exempt status from nonprofits that have "provided support for terrorist organizations". Let's state the obvious: it's already completely illegal for nonprofits to support terrorism. So, what is the bill actually doing? It allows Trump's Treasury Secretary to effectively shut down any nonprofit they want with zero due process, zero evidence, and zero explanation of why they're doing it. In the likely event that Trump appoints a loyalist in the mold of his previous Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz, this bill would hand them a blank check to retaliate against, and effectively shut down, any nonprofit that he doesn't like – with virtually no oversight! That means that if the Trump Administration wants to retaliate against Common Cause – or any other group that dissents from his anti-democracy agenda, they could take away our non-profit tax status without any justification. If you agree Donald Trump – or any other future president – should not be able to take revenge against organizations just for dissent, chip in $3 to show Congress we will not stand silent when our rights are on the chopping block. >> If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: RUSH $3 NOW Our best line of defense is our ability to organize, litigate, and protest – all things that this bill and policies supported by the Trump campaign could dismantle. Thank you for staying engaged, Viki Harrison, Director of Constitutional Convention & Protecting Dissent Programs and the team at Common Cause P.S. If you haven't yet, there's still time to contact your Senator >> [1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/11/21/treasury-secretary-house-bill-nonprofit-organization/76468156007/ [2] https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024477 [3] Ibid 805 15th Street, NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20005 202.833.1200 https://commoncause.org Common Cause's work to defend and strengthen our democracy is powered by members like you. You can use this link to unsubscribe or let us know you'd like to receive fewer emails from us.

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