Momentum is building in the U.S. Congress behind a bill seeking to designate the Polisario Front as a terrorist organization, after Republican Representative Claudia Tenney joined the list of lawmakers supporting the legislative initiative.
According to official records on the U.S. Congress website, Tenney joined the bill’s supporters on Monday, becoming the first woman to back the proposal since it was introduced on June 24, 2025.
Her support raises the number of co-sponsors in the House of Representatives to nine lawmakers, in addition to Republican Representative Joe Wilson, who introduced the bill and is leading the initiative.
The legislation seeks to require the U.S. administration to examine whether the Polisario Front should be designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, a move that could carry significant legal and diplomatic implications if adopted.
Support for the proposal has expanded steadily in recent weeks. Republican Representative Don Bacon announced his backing of the bill on March 3, while Representative Zachary Nunn of Iowa joined the initiative in late February.
These additions reflect growing attention within Congress to the proposal and to the broader dynamics surrounding the Western Sahara dispute.
Tenney is considered a prominent figure within the Republican Party. She has represented New York’s 24th congressional district in the House of Representatives since January 2023.
She has also been active on issues related to national security and defense, which adds weight to her support for the bill as discussions about the proposal continue in Washington.
In Congress, Tenney serves on several influential committees, including the Ways and Means Committee, the Science, Space and Technology Committee, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
These committees play key roles in shaping U.S. policy on economic strategy, technological development and national security.
The bill itself aims to compel the U.S. administration to conduct a formal review of whether the Polisario Front should be placed on the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Such a designation could lead to legal restrictions, financial sanctions and broader diplomatic repercussions.
Analysts say the growing congressional support for the initiative comes at a time of renewed U.S. interest in the Western Sahara issue, as diplomatic efforts continue to seek a political settlement to the decades-long conflict.
These discussions are taking place in the context of efforts to advance negotiations based on Morocco’s autonomy proposal, which Rabat has presented as a framework for resolving the dispute under United Nations auspices.
Some analysts also view the legislative push as part of a broader U.S. approach that combines diplomatic engagement with potential political pressure aimed at encouraging progress in the negotiation process.
As congressional backing for the bill continues to expand, the initiative has become one of the clearest indicators of growing U.S. political attention to the Western Sahara file and Washington’s willingness to use legislative tools to influence the trajectory of the long-running dispute.
