Sponsors (6)
The bill strengthens national-security protections and oversight by steering DHS funds away from programs tied to high-risk foreign entities, at the cost of disrupting academic programs, chilling benign collaborations, potential reputational harms, and added compliance costs for colleges and universities.
Universities that cut or avoid ties to designated Chinese entities can continue to receive DHS research and training funding, reducing exposure to foreign-linked national security risks.
DHS must identify and report campuses with relationships to listed Chinese entities to congressional homeland security committees, increasing transparency and congressional oversight of potential foreign influence on campuses.
DHS funding is restricted from institutions tied to entities involved in election interference, forced labor, or military–civil fusion, channeling federal support away from programs with those high-risk ties.
Schools—especially smaller colleges—could lose DHS research or training grants and related programs (e.g., language/culture resources), disrupting student services and ongoing research if partnerships are severed.
Broad, criteria-based definitions of 'Chinese entity of concern' and public campus reporting may force institutions to cut benign academic collaborations and stigmatize campuses, chilling research and international exchange.
Identifying and reporting campuses with such ties could harm institutional reputations and future collaborations, affecting students and faculty beyond direct funding consequences.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Department of Homeland Security to withhold DHS funds from colleges and universities that have a defined “relationship” with Confucius Institutes, the Thousand Talents Program, or specified Chinese entities of concern, unless the institution ends that relationship. The restriction begins the first fiscal year that starts more than 12 months after enactment, and institutions that terminate the relationship regain eligibility; DHS must also report to congressional homeland security committees identifying affected institutions that receive DHS funds.
Introduced January 31, 2025 by August Pfluger · Last progress May 8, 2025