By: Fern Sidman

In response, Senator Cruz announced plans to reintroduce his Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, a bill that he has championed in multiple congressional sessions but which has so far failed to clear the necessary legislative hurdles.

“The Muslim Brotherhood uses political violence to achieve political ends and destabilize American allies, both within countries and across national boundaries,” Cruz said in a statement obtained by The Hill and referenced by Israel National News. “The Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood is Hamas, a terrorist group which on October 7th committed the largest one-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, including the murder and kidnapping of dozens of Americans.”

The timing of Cruz’s renewed push is particularly striking. Sunday’s attack, which left the Jewish community in Boulder reeling, has become a potent symbol of what Cruz and other lawmakers see as the growing threat of Islamist extremism gaining ideological footholds on U.S. soil. As the report on Israel National News has highlighted, federal investigators are now exploring whether Soliman acted alone or had connections to foreign extremist networks.

Cruz also drew a political contrast between previous and current administrations, blaming President Joe Biden’s leadership for allowing groups like the Muslim Brotherhood to regain influence. “The Brotherhood used the Biden administration to consolidate and deepen their influence,” he said, “but the Trump administration and Republican Congress can no longer afford to avoid the threat they pose to Americans and American national security.”

The call to formally blacklist the Muslim Brotherhood is not a new one. As Israel National News reports, the organization is already classified as a terrorist group by several U.S. allies in the Middle East, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. These designations followed periods of violent upheaval and failed governance after Brotherhood-backed politicians rose to power in post-revolutionary Egypt, only to be removed by the country’s military amid mass protests and widespread unrest.

Despite these precedents abroad, the U.S. government has long wrestled with the challenge of classifying the Muslim Brotherhood, in part due to its decentralized structure and broad range of affiliates—some of which operate legally as political parties or charitable organizations. During his first administration, President Donald Trump considered labeling the group as a terrorist organization but ultimately refrained, reportedly under advisement from officials who argued that the Brotherhood’s diffuse nature and lack of direct attacks against U.S. interests failed to meet the State Department’s threshold for designation.

That could change under a renewed Trump administration and a Republican-controlled Congress, where sentiment is shifting in favor of more aggressive measures against ideologically aligned groups. As the report on Israel National News noted, bipartisan voices are also joining the chorus. Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), a Jewish Democrat, posted on X: “Its history of promoting extremist ideologies and terrorist activities through affiliates like Hamas threatens our national & global security.”

Still, the path forward remains legally and diplomatically complex. Designating the Muslim Brotherhood would require the State Department to provide conclusive evidence that the organization meets the statutory criteria of a foreign entity engaged in or supporting terrorism against the United States or its citizens. Opponents of the designation warn that doing so could complicate U.S. relations with countries where Brotherhood-linked parties still participate in political life, such as Jordan, Kuwait, and even elements of Turkey’s ruling party.

However, supporters of the bill argue that the organization’s ideological blueprint—especially as expressed through groups like Hamas—makes a compelling case for decisive action. As the Israel National News report pointed out, the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel, which resulted in over 1,200 civilian deaths and the kidnapping of dozens, has reframed global attention on the Brotherhood’s violent proxies and radical influence.

Cruz’s office says the upcoming version of the bill will be a “modernized” draft, better suited to the current geopolitical landscape and structured to close previous loopholes that may have hindered earlier versions. The proposed legislation is expected to be formally reintroduced in the coming weeks.

As the U.S. continues to confront the rise of domestic antisemitism and the potential infiltration of foreign radical ideologies, the Boulder attack is serving as both a catalyst and a cautionary tale. Whether Senator Cruz’s bill succeeds this time may well depend on whether lawmakers agree that the Muslim Brotherhood is not just a relic of past revolutions, but a continuing threat to American safety and values.