Democrats Renew Push for Domestic Counterterrorism Legislation

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) speaks to reporters in Washington on July 9, 2020. Behind him are Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) and David Cicilline (D-R.I.). (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Democrats have renewed their push to provide the Department of Justice (DOJ), FBI, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) an influx of domestic counterterrorism resources, with Republicans pushing back at a heated March 16 House Judiciary Committee meeting.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) touted the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2021 at the March 16 meeting, saying that the act is essential to combat white supremacy.

“The Department of Justice has an array of statutory authorities to bring charges against domestic terrorists, including those who are white supremacists, but it is abundantly clear that the Department has not initiated a sufficient number of these prosecutions,” Nadler said. ”This legislation would give DOJ the tools it needs to monitor, identify, and prosecute domestic terrorism cases, along with the data it needs to focus on the greatest threats.”

Nadler mentioned that the House approved domestic counterterrorism legislation in 2020—doing so by a voice vote—lamenting that the measure then “languished in the Senate.”

Republicans, for their part, vigorously opposed the legislation, questioning the need to give more power and resources to multibillion-dollar federal bureaucracies.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told his Democratic colleagues that national security powers intended to combat terrorism have, instead, often been used to suppress domestic populations.

“I believe the gravest threat to our country is the inward turning of exquisite national security authorities that we had intended for terrorists in faraway lands against our own people. And my friends, now you are in power, and so you’re trying to weaponize these institutions against those you consider to be antithetical to your worldview,” Gaetz said.

“But keep in mind: That may sound good today, when the DOJ and FBI are left-leaning. But they used to be right-leaning. The FBI used to essentially be a white-supremacist institution. They targeted Martin Luther King Jr., they targeted Marcus Garvey, they targeted Malcolm X with some of these same authorities.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said the threat to his constituents isn’t hypothetical, citing Attorney General Merrick Garland’s decision in October 2021 to open an investigation into violence at school board meetings.

Jordan pointed out that Garland’s decision was informed by a letter from the National School Boards Association (NSBA), which characterized protesting parents as domestic terrorism threats and called for the FBI to use statutes such as the PATRIOT Act to investigate them. The NSBA has since apologized and retracted the letter, but Garland has refused to rescind his memo or halt the ongoing federal probe.

“This bill’s going to put in place what these guys did last fall,” Jordan said, referring to the school board fiasco.

Responding to Jordan, Nadler mentioned that the NSBA has apologized for the letter—questioning why Republicans are talking about the issue.

“You’re making my point for me,” Jordan said, explaining to the chairman that his issue isn’t with the school boards, but with Garland for continuing to conduct his investigation.

To address Garland’s ongoing probe, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) introduced an amendment to the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act that would prohibit the FBI from tracking cases associated with school board violence. The FBI has been tracking all such cases with the internal tag EDUOFFICIALS—serving a similar function as a Twitter hashtag—which is an indication that law enforcers are coordinating on multiple investigations.

Nadler opposed the proposed amendment because he said it doesn’t make sense to introduce a carveout in the legislation for one specific investigation. Other Democrats doubled down on the need to investigate school board threats and similar matters.

Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) said a school in his district had just experienced a bomb threat last week, which is one of the reasons why he’s pushing for this legislation. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) accused Republicans of being “soft on terrorism, as long as the terrorists are on their side.”

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) responded to Scanlon by citing the DHS’s counterterrorism coordinator, John Cohen, who told lawmakers in November 2021 that his department hasn’t found evidence of rising violence against educators.

“We did reach out to state and local law enforcement. There have been some sporadic instances of violence at school board meetings and in educational facilities. However, the information that we received is that state and local law enforcement were not seeing widespread action,” Cohen said at the time.

The meeting adjourned at about 1:30 p.m. ET for some of the legislators to attend a signing ceremony at the White House.