Sponsors (7)
The bill strengthens national‑security safeguards and congressional transparency around federally funded research at the cost of reducing funding and collaboration options for universities, increasing administrative burdens, and risking deterrence or disadvantage to international students and campuses with high foreign enrollment.
Researchers and universities: reduces the risk that US‑funded fundamental research will transfer sensitive technology to entities tied to foreign adversaries by blocking grants/contracts unless a waiver is granted.
Congress, agencies, and the public: mandates 30‑day congressional notice and annual reports with enrollment data and detailed waiver justifications, increasing transparency and oversight of agency decisions.
Universities and researchers: preserves agency flexibility by allowing case‑by‑case waivers when agency heads determine national‑security benefits, so essential collaborations can continue in specific instances.
Universities, researchers, and students: reduces eligibility for federal grants/contracts and collaboration opportunities, potentially shrinking research capacity, slowing hiring, and cutting job opportunities in academia and research.
International students, scholars, and immigrant communities: policy could stigmatize and deter applicants from certain countries (including some persecuted individuals), harming academic openness and diversity.
Institutions with high international enrollment or large shares from countries of concern: face formal disadvantages or presumptive ineligibility for waivers (e.g., schools with ≥15% international enrollment), which could exclude many campuses from funded projects.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Stops federal funding for fundamental research collaborations with certain covered entities unless an agency grants a national-security waiver and reports details to Congress.
Prohibits the use of federal funds to award grants or contracts for fundamental research at colleges and universities when that research is done in collaboration with certain foreign-linked or otherwise designated "covered entities," unless a federal agency head grants a case-by-case waiver for national security reasons. Waivers are limited to institutions that meet enrollment-based eligibility thresholds, exclude certain persecuted students from those caps, and require prompt congressional notification and annual agency reporting with details about applications, approvals, participants, technologies, durations, and intellectual property terms.
Introduced September 10, 2025 by Thomas Bryant Cotton · Last progress September 10, 2025