Senator Ted Cruz on Wednesday urged Congress to take action on what he described as Muslim Brotherhood-linked influence operations in the US.
"Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and now the United States have all designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation," Mr Cruz said before the Senate judiciary subcommittee on federal courts, oversight, agency action and federal rights.
"My promise to the American people is to hold accountable those who finance and support terrorism on American soil."
Witnesses speaking before the committee highlighted the dangers posed by the Muslim Brotherhood, describing a web of influence operations involving a wide range of organisations in the US, with the goal being the "erosion" of American values.
"The lesson from history is clear: terrorist organisations do not survive from violence alone," said Lara Burns, head of terrorism research at George Washington University's Programme on Extremism. "They survive through networks that raise money, shape narratives, recruit supporters and legitimise extremism."
The US in January designated the Egyptian and Jordanian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organisations, and the Lebanese chapter as a foreign terrorist organisation.
In May, the White House 2026 counter-terrorism strategy described the Brotherhood as the "root of all modern Islamist terrorism".
But Mr Cruz and the witnesses said that despite efforts to outlaw the Brotherhood and block attempts by US-based affiliates to fund it and other groups abroad, it still exercises influence.
The Texas senator tried to draw a line between the Muslim Brotherhood and pro-Palestine campus protests that swept the country in 2024, and also accused the Council on American-Islamic Relations of having deep ties to the group – which Cair has repeatedly denied.
"They [the Muslim Brotherhood] told us that they wanted to infiltrate American universities, media outlets and research centres, and that is exactly what they've done," said Arielle Klepach, senior litigation counsel at the National Jewish Advocacy Centre, quoting a 1991 memorandum outlining the group's goals in the US.
She urged Congress to "close the successor organisation loophole" that allows groups to be reborn under different names amid litigation, a practice that causes courts to "play whack-a-mole for decades before achieving accountability".
Mr Cruz's home state of Texas was the first in the country to independently declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation. Texas congressmen Keith Self and Chip Roy are founding members of the Sharia-Free America Caucus, one of whose aims is eradicating the Muslim Brotherhood's influence in the US.
But critics say Republican politicians are using Islamophobia to rile conservative voters as the country heads towards the November midterm elections.
The hearing was a unique one in that Mr Cruz was the only senator present, and he blasted absent Democrats for ignoring a pressing issue. It was not immediately clear why none of Mr Cruz's fellow Republicans were in attendance.
Before the hearing, Democrats announced their intention to boycott the event.
“Scapegoating Muslims may be a Texas Republican strategist’s idea of ‘solid gold’ to whip up their voters, but Democrats have no intention of indulging this political creepshow, particularly after the recent violence targeting places of faith," Democratic members of the subcommittee said in a statement.
