Sponsors (4)
The bill trades increased public and national-security transparency about foreign-funded nonprofits for new compliance costs and heightened privacy, stigma, and safety risks for NGOs—especially small and humanitarian-focused organizations.
Nonprofit organizations and the public gain clearer visibility into relationships between U.S. nonprofits and hostile foreign governments, improving transparency for policymakers and oversight.
Taxpayers, donors, and policymakers can better assess potential foreign influence on U.S. civil society and policy debates because foreign funding to nonprofits will be disclosed.
Nonprofits (especially small, humanitarian, or overseas-facing groups), immigrants, and foreign partners risk stigma, donor withdrawal, chilled speech, and exposure of sensitive operational or donor information that could harm privacy and security.
501(c) organizations receiving lawful foreign funding face new short-window registration and reporting requirements that create compliance costs and legal burdens, straining small nonprofits' budgets and capacity.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Treats certain 501(c) organizations that receive funds from specified foreign principals as FARA agents and requires enhanced registration and disclosure.
Official title: Amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended to treat certain tax-exempt organizations receiving funding from foreign principals of foreign countries of concern as agents of a foreign principal under such Act, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 16, 2025 by Theodore Paul Budd · Last progress July 16, 2025
Requires many U.S. tax-exempt organizations (those described in IRC §501(c)) that receive funds or other things of value from certain designated foreign countries or actors to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and disclose agreements and related activities. It defines a list of "foreign countries of concern," expands the kinds of foreign principals covered, creates limited carve-outs, and requires affected organizations to include specific statements and copies of agreements in their FARA filings; the new rules take effect 30 days after enactment.