Just over a week after the Trump administration announced moves to designate branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is set to discuss and vote on legislation that aims to classify the entire organization globally as a terrorist group on Wednesday.

The bipartisan House legislation, led by Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), would instruct the Department of State to assess whether each branch of the Muslim Brotherhood operating globally meets the requirements for designation as a terrorist group. It would then use those determinations to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group in its entirety.

The legislation may go further than the current executive action on the issue, which does not specifically mandate assessments of each Muslim Brotherhood branch and does not directly aim to proscribe the entire Muslim Brotherhood.

Some analysts have raised concerns that the executive branch action does not directly target the Muslim Brotherhood branches in Qatar and Turkey, as it names only the branches in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.

But others have argued that designating the entire Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group is legally and logistically problematic, given that the group does not have any central organization or leadership and that some Muslim Brotherhood branches are not directly tied to terrorism.

Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), the committee chairman, told Jewish Insider prior to the administration’s announcement that the committee was looking to take up legislation on the issue.

Companion legislation in the Senate led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has not yet been scheduled for a markup.

In addition to the Muslim Brotherhood bill, the Foreign Affairs Committee will vote on legislation — led by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Bill Keating (D-MA) and Moskowitz — to impose sanctions on the Houthis and their members under the Global Magnitsky Act and the Robert Levinson Hostage Taking and Accountability Act in response to the group’s obstruction of humanitarian aid, human rights violations and involvement in taking U.S. nationals hostage. 

The sanctions would phase out after five years, and the legislation would also require reports to Congress on Houthi indoctrination efforts, obstruction of humanitarian aid and human rights violations.

The Committee is also set to discuss the Protecting Europe from Antisemitic Crime and Extremism (PEACE) Act, led by Reps. Randy Fine (R-FL) and Max Miller (R-OH), which instructs the State Department to diplomatically engage with European governments to address antisemitism in their countries and to consult with Congress on the issue.

It will additionally consider a bill by Fine and Moskowitz that aims to harmonize various U.S. sanctions lists, instructing the administration to assess whether individuals included on some  designation lists should be sanctioned under other authorities as well, and to report to Congress on those determinations.