Sponsors (2)
The bill strengthens protection of sensitive, taxpayer-funded research and standardizes compliance to reduce illicit technology transfer, but at the cost of added administrative burdens and the risk of disrupted or delayed international scientific collaborations that could slow U.S. research progress and competitiveness.
U.S. researchers and national labs face reduced risk of illicit technology transfer, protecting sensitive national-security technologies.
Taxpayers are less likely to see their federally funded research indirectly benefit sanctioned or adversarial entities, preserving the integrity of public research investments.
Researchers and universities get government-wide OSTP guidance that standardizes compliance expectations across agencies, reducing uncertainty about permissible collaborations.
Scientists and universities may lose collaborative partners and access to datasets or materials, disrupting projects and slowing scientific progress.
Awardees and agencies will face new administrative burdens and costs to screen partners, track associations, and implement OSTP guidance, increasing overhead for research institutions and federal staff.
Valuable international collaborations could be delayed or denied pending waivers and subject only to post-hoc Congressional notice, creating uncertainty for researchers and project timelines.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Stops use of federal research funds for collaborations with entities or people on specified U.S. restricted-entity lists, unless a narrow agency waiver is granted.
Official title: To prohibit certain federally funded research collaborations with certain foreign entities, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 19, 2026 by John Moolenaar · Last progress May 19, 2026
Prohibits recipients of federal research awards from using federal funds to collaborate with entities or people on specified U.S. government restricted-entity lists, unless an agency grants a case-by-case waiver for clear national security or essential scientific/public-health purposes. Directs OSTP, working with research agencies, to issue government-wide guidance with standardized compliance, definitions, and enforcement, and requires congressional notice for any waivers. Aggregates multiple existing federal restricted-entity lists (Commerce, OFAC, DoD, State, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, etc.) and allows specified Cabinet officials or the President to add other lists. Defines covered collaborations broadly (joint research, co-authorship, data/material sharing, personnel exchanges, joint facilities, and other agency-defined arrangements).