House Republicans press IRS to strip Middle East Children's Alliance of tax-exempt status

House Ways and Means Committee Republicans, led by Chairman Jason Smith of Missouri, want the IRS to open an investigation into the Middle East Children's Alliance, a Berkeley, California nonprofit, and revoke its tax-exempt status. Fox Business reports the group's first-on-Fox letter went to IRS CEO Frank Bisignano. The lawmakers allege the charity is connected to people and organizations tied to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the U. S. has designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997, and to the network of Neville Roy Singham. They argue tax exemption is a privilege and that the alliance does not deserve it.

Much of the complaint concerns money. Smith says the alliance's yearly foreign grantmaking climbed from about $1. 8 million to over $10 million following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, while records of where the funds went nearly disappeared. He points to a $4. 4 million wire in 2024 that named neither a recipient nor a country, and to 2025, when none of its 38 overseas grants, worth more than $11 million combined, came with a description.

The letter also draws a link to The People's Forum, a tax-exempt group Smith subpoenaed on July 24, 2026, after it declined to hand over documents. That group's 2024 filing lists a $16,420 gift to the alliance for a fundraiser. Separately, the Network Contagion Research Institute, a Princeton, New Jersey nonprofit, alleges personnel-level ties to the PFLP. Its co-founder, Joel Finkelstein, said the alliance's backers include members of Congress.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox Business’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox Business →