Escalation of the U.S. Confrontation with the Muslim Brotherhood: Accelerated Legislative and Judicial Moves
The political and legal arenas in the United States have witnessed new developments in the confrontation with the Muslim Brotherhood, with legislative and judicial efforts intensifying, in what Washington describes as a response to ideological and security threats that go beyond the local American context.
U.S. Congress initiatives are experiencing an unprecedented escalation, with the establishment of a Republican parliamentary bloc called “America Free of Sharia,” comprising more than 30 representatives from various states, calling for legal restrictions against what they consider a “radical ideology” spreading through civil institutions and associations.
U.S. sources indicate that members of this bloc link certain Islamic institutions in America to the objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood and are demanding official hearings to examine what they describe as “ideological infiltration.”
Alongside the legislative dimension, judicial and security actions are underway in several states, led by Texas, where the attorney general has filed a lawsuit to ban the activities of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) within the state, accusing it of being “a front linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
In a similar context, the state governor had previously classified both the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as “foreign terrorist organizations” at the local level, amid calls to revoke CAIR’s nonprofit status and halt its funding.
These developments come within the framework of a broader federal plan, which, in January 2026, included branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan on global terrorism lists, by decision of the U.S. Departments of Treasury and State, based on allegations of providing material support to groups such as Hamas.
The decision is part of a wider strategy to restrict the movement’s resources and prevent what Washington considers its support for movements “threatening the stability of U.S. partners in the Middle East.”
Spokespersons for the Muslim Brotherhood stated that they would seek to use legal channels to challenge these decisions and reject the accusations against them, arguing that many of these measures are more political than security-related.
