The U.S. Senate reviews the Muslim Brotherhood file: an upcoming hearing to tighten the designation
An upcoming hearing is set to be held by the U.S. Senate to discuss the implications of designating the Muslim Brotherhood and its branches as terrorist entities, in a continued escalation by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump toward the group.
The scheduled hearing will take place on May 20 within the Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, concluding a six-month campaign led by the U.S. executive branch to designate branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations.
Significance of the hearing
According to the American website Legis One, affiliated with Congress, the hearing opens the door to expanding the use of U.S. legal tools against activities linked to the Muslim Brotherhood inside the United States, including material support laws and financial sanctions, while also examining the possibility of granting authorities additional powers to track entities and individuals associated with the group.
The hearing also paves the way for turning executive measures taken by the administration of President Donald Trump into permanent legislative provisions that would be difficult to reverse in the future, amid a growing trend within Congress to treat the group as a national security issue rather than merely a foreign policy matter.
This hearing places Congress at the center of a broad political and legal debate whose impact extends to U.S. foreign policy and the legal framework for enforcing counterterrorism laws within the United States.
Escalatory measures
The Trump administration laid the groundwork for this hearing through a series of escalatory steps beginning in November 2025, when Donald Trump signed Executive Order No. 14362 directing the designation of Muslim Brotherhood branches in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and placing them on the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
In January 2026, the Departments of State and Treasury completed the formal designation procedures, while the State Department later separately designated the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood in March 2026.
At the time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that “the Muslim Brotherhood has a long record of terrorist acts,” affirming that the U.S. administration was working to isolate the group from the financial system.
A shift in official rhetoric
Fourteen days before the hearing, the White House released the 2026 National Counterterrorism Strategy, which for the first time described the Muslim Brotherhood as “the source of terrorism in the world,” directly linking it to al-Qaeda and the terrorist organization ISIS.
The strategy was announced by Sebastian Gorka, Donald Trump’s counterterrorism director, who stated that the administration would continue designating the group’s branches “to crush the organization everywhere.”
According to the American website, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies considered this strategy a major shift compared to previous U.S. government assessments of the group, while Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative noted that describing the Muslim Brotherhood as the “origin” of al-Qaeda and ISIS represents a notable shift in official U.S. rhetoric.
Ted Cruz at the forefront
Republican Senator Ted Cruz is at the forefront within Congress. His role is not limited to chairing the subcommittee organizing the hearing; he is also one of the leading advocates for tightening measures against the Muslim Brotherhood.
Following the executive order, Ted Cruz called on the Senate to “move swiftly” to pass the 2025 Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, arguing that the legislation aims to “cement the designations and provide additional resources to protect Americans from the group and its branches.”
A similar bill was also introduced in the House of Representatives under number H.R.3883, titled the “Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025,” during the 119th Congress.
The hearing provides Cruz with a platform to build a legislative record around the executive measures already taken and potentially push toward permanent legal designations that could endure across future administrations.
Broader legal powers
The hearing gains particular importance due to the nature of the judicial committee overseeing it, which has authority related to federal courts, agency procedures, and federal rights, placing it in a position to examine how current legal tools, including material support laws and financial sanctions, are applied within the United States.
The committee may also consider whether Congress should grant U.S. authorities additional powers to pursue activities linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, within a broader approach in which the U.S. administration treats the group as a national security issue rather than merely a foreign policy matter.
