On June 23, 2025, Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee introduced H.R. 260, the “No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act,” a bill designed to prevent U.S. tax dollars from funding terrorist groups such as the Taliban.
Burchett stated: “The United States has sent over $5 billion in cash to Kabul. It is the duty of the State Department to ensure that any aid from the United States is kept out of the hands of terrorists in Afghanistan. The terrorists can hate us for free.”
The legislation, which Burchett said he had worked on for nearly two years, would require the State Department to develop and execute a strategy to deter foreign nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from providing financial or material aid to terrorist entities.
Burchett expressed his satisfaction with the bill’s House passage: “After nearly two years of work on this bill, I am thrilled to finally watch it pass in the House. Now, I call on the Senate to send it to the White House for President Trump’s signature.”
The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and approved by its chairman, Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, on January 29, 2026.
Risch praised the measure: “Today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed one of the most commonsense bills we’ve considered in years — the No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act. The name says it all.”
He added that the bill would prevent even a single American dollar from reaching terrorist organizations like the Taliban, noting: “American military personnel spent years fighting the Taliban. Over 2,000 Americans were killed in Afghanistan, and more than 20,000 were wounded. It would be a slap in the face to these veterans and their families for any of our taxpayer dollars to flow to this murderous regime.”
Burchett highlighted the ongoing issue: “We already paid a heavy price to the Taliban five years ago. For publicity reasons, then-President Joe Biden wanted a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan on or before the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attack on the United States. In his haste he left many of the details of the withdrawal to the Taliban. As a result: And afterwards, as a final insult, Taliban members held a military parade in which they drove through the streets of Kabul in the abandoned Humvees and MRAPs, displayed their newly-acquired weapons, while wearing the U.S. military uniforms left behind.”
He continued: “And now we’re giving them $40 million a week?”
Burchett later stated: “I’m sick of it, y’all. DC keeps shoveling $40 million a week to the Taliban. Meanwhile, veterans are sleepin’ on the streets and Americans are barely stayin’ afloat.” He added, “That ain’t foreign policy. It’s pure stupidity. Enough’s enough. Defund the Taliban – go grab your shirt.”
Burchett emphasized: “There can’t be any reason to delay acting on this bill, not when every single week another $40 million gets shipped to the Taliban. This is a true bipartisan issue, especially for those who lived through 9/11.”
He urged supporters: “For those who can’t support the bill for the 2,977 Americans who lost their lives on that day, do it for the 13 service members who were murdered on Aug. 26, 2021, and the 2,446 military personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan before the 13.”
Burchett concluded: “No one, with the possible exception of a tiny minority of Democrats, could possibly support giving any terrorist group so much as a dime. As Larry the Cable Guy used to say, ‘Git-r done.’”
