Overview
- The executive order instructs the State and Treasury departments to deliver a joint report within 30 days and to take any warranted designation actions within 45 days.
- The move initiates an interagency review and does not itself confer Foreign Terrorist Organization or Specially Designated Global Terrorist status on any chapter.
- White House materials cite alleged post–Oct. 7 activities, including rocket fire from a Lebanese chapter’s military wing alongside Hamas and Hezbollah, calls for violence by an Egyptian leader, and reported Jordanian support to Hamas.
- If designations occur, penalties could include sanctions, asset freezes, barred access to the U.S. financial system, and criminal exposure for material support by U.S. persons.
- The step follows political pressure including Texas’s recent state-level designation of the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR, which CAIR is challenging in court, and congressional bills led by Sen. Ted Cruz seeking federal action.