Roy leads congressional delegation calling to halt federal funding for CAIR

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Outgoing U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is again calling on the federal government to take action against the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), this time against its California chapter.

On Monday, he led a congressional delegation calling on U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to suspend funding for CAIR-CA and its affiliates and initiate debarment proceedings. He did so in response to a Department of Justice investigation launched more than a year ago into CAIR for alleged misuse of federal funds related to Afghan refugees.

“CAIR’s longstanding ties to terrorist organizations, including Hamas – a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization – combined with documented financial mismanagement and misuse of federal grant funds administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), pose a grave risk to national security and render CAIR unfit to receive taxpayer dollars,” the delegation argues.

“Why should Americans’ taxpayer dollars go to groups like CAIR that facilitate terrorism? … Groups like CAIR that support Hamas should not be lining their pockets on the backs of hardworking Americans,” Roy said in a news release.

The letter to Kennedy refers to a March 2025 Intelligent Advocacy Network complaint filed with the DOJ urging it to investigate CAIR-CA’s alleged misuse of federal funds and EOIR accreditation violations. It questions millions of dollars CAIR-CA received from the federal government including for an Afghan Legal Services Project, alleges CAIR-LA is not a legal 501c3 entity, alleges accreditation violations, and alleges CAIR ties to Islamic terrorism. In response, the DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review launched an investigation.

The congressional delegation also asked HHS to investigate CAIR’s grant compliance and terrorist affiliations. It argues, “CAIR purports to be a civil rights organization dedicated to enhancing understanding of Islam, protecting civil liberties, and empowering American Muslims. Since 2022, HHS has sub-granted more than $15 million to CAIR through the California Department of Social Services for Afghan resettlement programs. However, overwhelming evidence confirms the nonprofit’s deep and enduring connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian branch, Hamas.”

It also argues “CAIR’s status as a federal grant recipient not only jeopardizes public funds but also threatens national security by subsidizing an entity aligned with terrorist groups and extremist movements. Immediate suspension is essential to prevent further harm, followed by formal debarment proceedings to bar CAIR from all federal non-procurement programs, including ORR grants,” referring to the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement.

CAIR has refuted the allegations, having earlier this year sent a letter to a Senate subcommittee about its work with Afghan refugees. It also maintains that IAN is “an apparent front group for the Israeli lobby whose primary purpose appears to be smearing critics of the Israeli government” that posts “various conspiracy theories about CAIR and other critics of the Israeli government.”

CAIR-Texas also rejects a foreign terrorist organization designation it received from Gov. Greg Abbott and has sued. It argues it is facing religious persecution and has no ties to terrorism, The Center Square reported.

This is the latest action Roy, who is running for Texas attorney general, has taken related to CAIR and Islamic ideology. He recently introduced the Designating Hamas Affiliates in America Act of 2026 to designate CAIR as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organization. If enacted, it would block CAIR’s assets and prohibit individuals in the U.S. from interacting with it. He also introduced the No Tax Exemptions for Terror Act to eliminate the tax-exempt status for extremist groups with close ties to terrorist organizations, which he argues includes CAIR.

Roy also filed a bill to denaturalize and deport individuals he argues are Marxist and Islamists, including the mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, after which the bill is named, The Center Square reported.

He also cofounded a Sharia Free America Caucus in Congress “to counter the alarming rise of Sharia Law in the United States. Sharia is a dominating force that is not compatible with the U.S. Constitution,” among other initiatives.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also filed a bill to ban Sharia law in the U.S. “to ensure anti-American jihadists and those who dare to try and implement Sharia Law’s hateful ideology in our freedom-loving, God-fearing communities are stopped and held accountable for their radical discrimination and flagrant violation of our Constitution.”

They are among multiple anti-Sharia initiatives launched by Texas Republicans in the past year, The Center Square reported. Banning Sharia law is a state legislative priority for the Texas legislature to consider next year. It is also at the top of 10 nonbinding propositions listed on the Republican primary ballot, which overwhelmingly passed, The Center Square reported.