The Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, introducedthis week by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) in both chambers of Congress, advocates for the designation on the grounds that the Muslim Brotherhood espouses “a violent Islamist ideology with a mission of destroying the West.”

It marks the fifth straight year that lawmakers have introduced legislation to this effect. Previous administrations — as well as counterterrorism analysts and political scientists who study the Brotherhood — have not viewed the group, which has held elected political offices across the Middle East, as a threat, preferring to engage it diplomatically.

President-elect Donald Trump, his supporters say, sees things differently.

Jordanians protest against the Islamic State after Friday prayers in Amman, Jordan, on Dec. 23. (Jamal Nasrallah/European Pressphoto Agency)

Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, the person who would make such a designation, on Wednesday referred to the Muslim Brotherhood as an adversary during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but he stopped short of calling for a terrorist designation.

Read more