Sen. Cruz Introduces the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa, and Global Health Policy today introduced the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025. This bill implements a new modernized strategy for designating Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group.
Sen. Cruz said, “The Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization, and it provides support to Muslim Brotherhood branches that are terrorist organizations. One of those branches is Hamas, which on October 7 committed the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, which included the murder and kidnapping of at least 53 Americans. They are committed to the overthrow and destruction of America and other non-Islamist governments across the world, and pose an acute threat to American national security interests. American allies in the Middle East and Europe have already labeled the Brotherhood a terrorist organization, and the United States should do the same, and do so expeditiously.”
Joining Sen. Cruz were Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.).
Sen. Cotton said, “The Muslim Brotherhood preaches death to Israel, the United States, and other western governments. These are the statements of a terrorist group, and they should be labeled as such.”
Sen. Boozman said, “The Muslim Brotherhood’s terrorist actions are well documented and deeply troubling. Historic support and financial backing to groups such as Hamas, the terrorist organization responsible for the October 7 attacks, are indicative of the Muslim Brotherhood’s extremist ideologies that warrant American action to protect lives, strengthen our national security and ultimately reinforce our commitment to stability in the region.”
Sen. Scott said, “The Muslim Brotherhood is a radical Islamist network with deep ties to extremist organizations like Hamas and the states that support them, like Qatar and Turkey, which on October 7th, massacred innocent Israelis and brutally attacked Americans. We know that these terror groups share an evil goal to destroy democracy, threaten our allies, and undermine America’s national security. That’s why I’m joining this urgent effort to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, ultimately blocking access to U.S. soil and our dollars. We owe it to our citizens, our service members, and our allies to confront this evil head-on.”
Sen. Moody said, “The Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act is commonsense legislation that will declare the Muslim Brotherhood, a group known to seek widespread hate against Christians, Jews and other religious groups, a foreign terrorist organization. This group actively provides support for groups like Hamas, the cowards responsible for the October 7th massacre of innocent Israelis—and they continue to spread their violence across the globe. Today we can join our allies across Europe and the Middle East in this designation, and I urge its swift passage.”
Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL-26).
Rep. Díaz-Balart said, “Today, I once again introduced legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization. The global Muslim Brotherhood has numerous regional branches, including terrorist organizations such as Hamas, and spreads violence and instability throughout the Middle East. For this reason, it is crucial to U.S. national security interests that we prohibit U.S. dollars from enabling the Muslim Brotherhood’s dangerous activities, and that we ensure Muslim Brotherhood members are blocked from entering the United States. This important legislation gives the Trump Administration the additional authority it needs to protect Americans, and our closest allies, from this insidious threat.”
This bill is supported by FDD Action, Christians United for Israel Action Fund, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Read the full text of the bill here.
BACKGROUND
Sen. Cruz has long called to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. Sen. Cruz introduced versions of the Muslim Brotherhood Designation Act 2015, 2017, 2020, and 2021. Countries that have labeled and outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization include Austria, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.