Congress votes to strip nonprofit's tax status by name, no trial required.
H.R. 9254 — Stop the SPLC Act of 2026 · Filed by Chip Roy (R-TX) · 9 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 10, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill strips the Southern Poverty Law Center of its federal tax-exempt status, making it subject to corporate income tax on all revenue going forward. The bill does not allege fraud or misconduct; it simply removes SPLC's 501(c)(3) designation by legislative fiat, effective immediately upon enactment.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole mechanism is to revoke a specific organization's tax-exempt status by name, without allegation of fraud, violation of tax law, or any statutory disqualification. It weaponizes the tax code as a tool of legislative retaliation against disfavored speech.
What the text implies
- Sets precedent that Congress can revoke 501(c)(3) status by legislative act against named organizations, bypassing IRS administrative process and judicial review.
- Chills tax-exempt status for advocacy organizations across the political spectrum by demonstrating that unpopular litigation or speech can trigger legislative tax punishment.
- Converts tax law from a neutral rule-based system into a discretionary weapon: future Congresses may target other nonprofits by name for political reasons.
- Does not require SPLC to have violated any tax law, engaged in fraud, or failed any statutory test — status is revoked purely because Congress dislikes the organization's litigation strategy.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
This bill uses tax law as a weapon to punish a specific organization for its speech and litigation activities, setting a precedent that Congress can revoke tax-exempt status by name without judicial process or statutory cause. Citizens lose the principle that tax exemptions are governed by neutral rules, not legislative retaliation against disfavored groups.
Named in the bill
Southern Poverty Law Center, Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3), House Committee on Ways and Means
Where it stands
9 cosponsors: 9 Republicans.
- Jun 10, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 10, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (458 characters) on Aug 29, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress votes to strip nonprofit's tax status by name, no trial required.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr9254 Report an error
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