Overview

• Rep. Brian Mast introduced legislation to expand the State Department’s authority to deny or revoke U.S. passports for people deemed to have provided material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.
• The bill defines material support broadly to include money, lodging, weapons, transportation and expert advice, with narrow exceptions for medicine and religious materials and an appeals process for affected individuals.
• Reporting highlighted language that would reach those convicted or merely charged and a separate section enabling denial based on the secretary’s determination, drawing objections from CAIR, the ACLU and FIRE over due process and speech concerns.
• After the backlash, Mast filed an amendment to strike the unilateral-determination provision, which still requires approval at the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Wednesday markup.
• A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on pending legislation, and the broader State Department policy package faces uncertain prospects in the Senate, according to the Guardian.