HHS investigating CAIR in response to Texas-led congressional delegation request

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(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is investigating the Council on American Islamic Relations-California in response to a request made by a congressional delegation led by outgoing U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.

In April, the delegation called on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to suspend funding for CAIR-CA and its affiliates and initiate debarment proceedings. It was done after a Department of Justice investigation was launched more than a year ago into alleged misuse of federal funds related to Afghan refugees.

“CAIR’s longstanding ties to terrorist organizations, including Hamas – a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization – combined with documented financial mismanagement and misuse of federal grant funds administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), pose a grave risk to national security and render CAIR unfit to receive taxpayer dollars,” the delegation argued, The Center Square reported. 

The DOJ investigation was launched in response to a March 2025 Intelligent Advocacy Network complaint filed with the DOJ urging it to investigate CAIR-CA’s alleged misuse of federal funds and EOIR accreditation violations. It questions millions of dollars CAIR-CA received from the federal government including for an Afghan Legal Services Project, alleges CAIR-LA is not a legal 501c3 entity, alleges accreditation violations, and alleges CAIR ties to Islamic terrorism. In response, the DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review launched an investigation. 

HHS Assistant Secretary Gustav Chiarello on Tuesday contacted California Gov. Gavin Newswom requesting cooperation. He reiterated that HHS has the legal authority to suspend or debar recipients of federal grant funds from participating in federal welfare programs if violations are confirmed. 

The California Department of Social Services “has sub-granted more than $27 million in HHS-originated funds to CAIR-CA for Afghan refugee and entrant assistance programs,” he said. “Congressman Chip Roy and other members of Congress have informed HHS that there may be connections between CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian branch, Hamas,” a designated foreign terrorist organization.

HHS is conducting the investigation to ensure that taxpayer dollars aren’t being funneled to entities that conduct business with ties to terrorism, he said. 

CAIR has refuted the allegations, having earlier this year sent a letter to a U.S. Senate subcommittee about its work with Afghan refugees. It also maintains that IAN is “an apparent front group for the Israeli lobby whose primary purpose appears to be smearing critics of the Israeli government” that posts “various conspiracy theories about CAIR and other critics of the Israeli government.” 

Roughly over the past year, as Roy campaigned for Texas attorney general, he increasingly filed bills related to Islam, Sharia law and CAIR. The bills have no likelihood of passing out of the House. Roy lost the Republican primary runoff election in May. 

Roy also co-launched a Sharia-Free America Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, holding two hearings at which no Islamic scholars or Islamic experts were called to testify. 

A group of 119 U.S. House and Senate Democrats have rebuked the caucus. Led by U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-SC, Chair of the Democratic Faith Working Group, and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, they said, “Ugly voices are growing louder and threatening to strip away our First Amendment rights to freely practice our faith and to violate the Constitutional prohibition of government picking one religion over another. We must oppose efforts to spread racist and xenophobic misrepresentations that sow more ignorance and hate.”

“The premise underlying this caucus and the measures associated with it reflects longstanding Islamophobic narratives and anti-Muslim sentiment rather than any demonstrated policy need,” the group said.

“To be clear, American Muslims serve this nation in every capacity and are entitled to the same constitutional protections as all other Americans,” they added. 

CAIR Director of Government Affairs Robert McCaw also said the “so-called ‘Sharia-Free America Caucus’ is not a serious policy effort. It is an anti-Muslim hate group and election-year distraction masquerading as a congressional caucus. Its proposals are rooted in Islamophobic conspiracy theories, not any legitimate legislative need. Congress is right to reject attempts to single out American Muslims and undermine our Constitution.”

The DOJ and HHS investigations are ongoing as Americans are commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 Islamic terrorist attacks this September. Islamic terrorism remains a threat in the U.S. after more than 18,000 suspected terrorists were released into the U.S. during the Biden administration. 

They include the Afghan men who committed terrorist attacks and attempted terrorist attacks in Washington, D.C., Texas and Virginia in a one-week period, as well as others being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, The Center Square reported.  

The Trump administration is continuing to prosecute young Muslim men nationwide. Born after 9/11— now under or close to age 25— they have pledged allegiance to ISIS and are providing material support to terrorist organizations 25 years after the greatest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.