Republican Senator Ted Cruz on Thursday re‑introduced the “Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025,” a measure that would compel the U.S. State Department to label the Islamist movement a foreign‑terrorist organisation and sanction its worldwide affiliates.
Cruz said the Brotherhood “is a terrorist organisation” that bankrolls violent offshoots such as Hamas, describing the network as “a grave threat to U.S. national‑security interests.”
The bill adopts what Cruz calls a “modernised, bottom‑up strategy,” authorising the State Department to designate individual Brotherhood branches first and then issue a comprehensive list within 90 days of passage.
Early co‑sponsors include Republican senators John Boozman, Tom Cotton, Dave McCormick, Ashley Moody and Rick Scott. The initiative is backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and FDD Action, all of which accuse the Brotherhood of aiding groups that target U.S. allies.
Legally, the text outlines three pathways: congressional action under the 1987 Anti‑Terrorism Act, a formal Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) listing by the State Department, and subsequent inclusion on the Treasury’s Specially Designated Global Terrorist roster—moves that would freeze assets and bar Americans from providing funds or services.
The push revives long‑running Republican efforts to blacklist the Brotherhood; Egypt, Saudi Arabia and several Gulf states have already applied similar designations. Previous U.S. bills stalled over how to define a movement with disparate national branches.
