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‘MAHSA’ Act Advances in US Senate

A woman carrying a picture of the Iranian activist Mahsa Amini in Brussels last September (AFP)
A woman carrying a picture of the Iranian activist Mahsa Amini in Brussels last September (AFP)
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‘MAHSA’ Act Advances in US Senate

A woman carrying a picture of the Iranian activist Mahsa Amini in Brussels last September (AFP)
A woman carrying a picture of the Iranian activist Mahsa Amini in Brussels last September (AFP)

After more than 7 months of approval in the House of Representatives, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced it will discuss the Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act (MAHSA Act) on April 16.

The bipartisan legislation passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming majority in September 2023, but has not yet been moved forward for a vote in the Senate.

It is named after the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian girl whose death in police custody in September 2022 sparked country-wide protests, challenging the Iranian regime like never before.

Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ben Cardin decided to put the bill on the agenda after previously holding back.

This move was welcomed by supporters of the bill, like Republican Representative Jim Banks, who urged for its vote to honor Amini’s memory and hold Iran accountable for human rights abuses.

Banks urged Chuck Schumer, the current Senate majority leader, to put the bill to vote in the Senate.

In a post on “X,” he highlighted two main points: the sanctions mentioned in the legislation and the upcoming steps and challenges.

The MAHSA Act, passed overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives with 410 votes, urges the US government to impose sanctions on top Iranian figures, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi, for human rights violations and supporting terrorism.

The bill requires the Biden administration to impose these sanctions within 90 days and freeze the assets of Iranian officials involved in human rights abuses.

Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul criticized the Biden administration for not applying existing sanction laws against Iranian officials despite their roles in human rights violations.

He also accused the administration of pursuing a political agenda in dealing with Iran, cautioning against sacrificing the Iranian people’s interests for a flawed nuclear deal.

These criticisms have raised doubts about the Biden administration’s willingness to sign such legislation.

Banks urged Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to put the bill to a vote in the Senate.

While its discussion in the committee is important for party unity, it doesn’t guarantee a vote. The final decision rests with Schumer, who hasn’t revealed his stance yet.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee may propose amendments during the expected debate on the bill. This means the final version will differ from the House's.

Hence, the House will need to vote again to align the text before sending it to the White House for the President’s signature.

Additionally, the committee will discuss two more bills to impose extra sanctions on Iran: one targeting the oil sector and the other aimed at the drone and missile program and its exporters.

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Elon Musk Hands Out $1 Million Payments after Wisconsin Supreme Court Declines Request to Stop Him

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk prepares to give $1,000,000 to a Wisconsin voter during a town hall meeting he was hosting at the KI Convention Center on March 30, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Getty Images/AFP)
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk prepares to give $1,000,000 to a Wisconsin voter during a town hall meeting he was hosting at the KI Convention Center on March 30, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Elon Musk Hands Out $1 Million Payments after Wisconsin Supreme Court Declines Request to Stop Him

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk prepares to give $1,000,000 to a Wisconsin voter during a town hall meeting he was hosting at the KI Convention Center on March 30, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Getty Images/AFP)
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk prepares to give $1,000,000 to a Wisconsin voter during a town hall meeting he was hosting at the KI Convention Center on March 30, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Getty Images/AFP)

Elon Musk gave out $1 million checks on Sunday to two Wisconsin voters, declaring them spokespeople for his political group, ahead of a Wisconsin Supreme Court election that the tech billionaire cast as critical to President Donald Trump's agenda and “the future of civilization.”

“It’s a super big deal,” he told a roughly 2,000-person crowd in Green Bay on Sunday night, taking the stage in a yellow cheesehead hat. “I’m not phoning it in. I’m here in person.”

Musk and groups he supports have spent more than $20 million to help conservative favorite Brad Schimel in Tuesday's race, which will determine the ideological makeup of a court likely to decide key issues in a perennial battleground state.

Musk has increasingly become the center of the contest, with liberal favorite Susan Crawford and her allies protesting Musk and what they say is the influence he wants to have on the court.

“I think this will be important for the future of civilization,” he said. “It’s that’s significant.”

He noted that the state high court may well take up redistricting of congressional districts, which could ultimately affect which party controls the US House.

“And if the (Wisconsin) Supreme Court is able to redraw the districts, they will gerrymander the district and deprive Wisconsin of two seats on the Republican side,” Musk said. “Then they will try to stop all the government reforms we are getting done for you, the American people.”

A unanimous state Supreme Court on Sunday refused to hear a last-minute attempt by the state's Democratic attorney general to stop Musk from handing over the checks to two voters, a ruling that came just minutes before the planned start of the rally.

Two lower courts had already rejected the legal challenge by Democrat Josh Kaul, who argues that Musk's offer violates a state law. “Wisconsin law prohibits offering anything of value to induce anyone to vote,” Kaul argued in his filing. “Yet, Elon Musk did just that.”

But the state Supreme Court, which is currently controlled 4-3 by liberal justices, declined to take the case as an original action. The court gave no rationale for its decision.

Kaul had no immediate comment on the court's order.

Musk’s attorneys argued in filings with the court that Musk was exercising his free speech rights with the giveaways and any attempt to restrict that would violate both the Wisconsin and US constitutions.

The payments are “intended to generate a grassroots movement in opposition to activist judges, not to expressly advocate for or against any candidate,” Musk’s attorneys argued in court filings.

Musk’s political action committee used a nearly identical tactic before the presidential election last year, offering to pay $1 million a day to voters in Wisconsin and six other battleground states who signed a petition supporting the First and Second amendments. A judge in Pennsylvania said prosecutors failed to show the effort was an illegal lottery and allowed it to continue through Election Day.

Liberals currently hold a 4-3 majority on the court. All four liberal justices have endorsed Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, the Democratic-backed candidate.

Musk’s attorneys, about four hours before the rally was to begin, asked that two liberal justices who have campaigned for Crawford — Jill Karofsky and Rebecca Dallet — recuse themselves from the case. His attorneys argued their work for Crawford creates “the specter of inappropriate bias.” If they did recuse, that would leave the court with a 3-2 conservative majority.

Both justices rejected the request and said they would spell out their reasons why at a later date.

One of the court's conservative justices has endorsed Schimel, who wore a “Make America Great Again" hat while campaigning Sunday.

Schimel said in a national television interview that he does not control “any of the spending from any outside group, whether it’s Elon Musk or anyone else” and that all Trump asked was whether he would “reject activist judges” and follow the law.

“That’s exactly what I’ve committed to anybody, whether it’s President Trump, Elon Musk or any donors and donors or supporters or voters in Wisconsin. That’s my commitment,” Schimel told “Fox News Sunday.”

The contest has shattered national spending records for a judicial election, with more than $81 million in spending.

It comes as Wisconsin’s highest court is expected to rule on abortion rights, congressional redistricting, union power and voting rules that could affect the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election in the state.