Congress freezes Gaza aid pending presidential certification on terrorism and messaging.
S. 1128 — Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act · Filed by Rick Scott (R-FL) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 25, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill blocks all U.S. federal spending in Gaza until the President certifies that the money will not benefit Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or other designated terrorist organizations, and that UN entities receiving funds are not promoting anti-Israel or anti-Semitic content. It gives the President discretion to approve spending only after meeting these conditions.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a conditional spending freeze on Gaza aid, contingent on presidential certification that funds avoid terrorist organizations and UN entities avoid certain messaging. It is neither a blanket ban nor a straightforward appropriation—it is a gating mechanism that delegates enforcement to executive certification.
What the text implies
- The subjective 'anti-Israel or anti-Semitic ideas' certification standard for UN entities may be interpreted broadly to block funding for UN human-rights investigations, fact-finding missions, or documentation of civilian harm—activities that are not inherently anti-Semitic but may be framed as such.
- A blanket spending freeze may halt humanitarian aid (food, medicine, water, sanitation) to civilian populations, including children and the elderly, if the President declines to certify or delays certification indefinitely.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who it affects
The bill aims to prevent U.S. aid from reaching terrorist organizations, a legitimate anti-terrorism objective.