A new bill by Senator Ted Cruz aims to formally label the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by targeting its violent global branches. The measure, modeled after the 2017 IRGC designation, seeks to establish a legal pathway for broad international sanctions.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has introduced a high-stakes bill aimed at officially designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)—a move designed to deliver a crippling financial and political blow to the sprawling Islamist network.
Dubbed the “Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025,” the legislation adopts a novel “bottom-up” strategy to bypass previous legislative hurdles that failed due to the non-violent posture of some Brotherhood affiliates. According to reporting by the Washington Free Beacon, the bill focuses on first cataloging and targeting the group’s most violent global branches, before applying the FTO designation to the wider organization.
The approach mirrors the successful model used by the Trump administration in 2017 to sanction Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which helped overcome similar legal obstacles.
Under the bill, the Secretary of State would be mandated to identify and list Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups that meet terrorism criteria, and subsequently designate the global Muslim Brotherhood for its material and ideological support to those groups.
The legislation already enjoys strong Republican backing, with co-sponsors including Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Rick Scott (R-FL). It has also drawn support from several influential pro-Israel and national security organizations such as AIPAC, CUFI (Christians United for Israel), and FDD Action.
A source familiar with Cruz’s drafting process said the bill had been “deliberately and extensively workshopped” to ensure it withstands legal scrutiny and has a clear path to enactment.
“This isn’t just for messaging—it’s meant to pass and be implemented,” the source emphasized.
If adopted, the bill could trigger sweeping sanctions and restrictions on individuals and institutions tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, many of which operate across the Middle East, Europe, and North America.
The Brotherhood, founded in Egypt nearly a century ago, has already been officially banned and labeled a terrorist group by several regional powers, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—particularly following the group’s brief rise to power in Egypt and subsequent military ouster.
If the Cruz bill passes, it would mark a major shift in U.S. foreign policy—effectively aligning Washington with key Arab allies in formally recognizing the Brotherhood as a transnational threat. The political implications for Islamist-linked institutions, charities, and lobby groups in the West could be profound.
