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The House passed the DETERRENT Act (H.R. 1048), which requires colleges and universities to more strictly report financial gifts and contracts received from foreign sources.
The House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 1048, known as the DETERRENT Act. This bill focuses on increasing transparency regarding foreign money in American higher education. It requires colleges and universities to report gifts and contracts from foreign sources at lower dollar amounts than current law mandates. For foreign governments or entities labeled as "countries of concern," the bill requires schools to disclose every financial tie, no matter how small, and provide full, unredacted copies of contracts to the government. This was a vote on the final passage of the bill in the House. In the House of Representatives, once a bill is debated and any amendments are considered, the members take a final vote to decide whether the bill should move forward. This type of vote requires a simple majority—meaning more than half of the members who are present and voting must say "yes" for the bill to pass. With this successful vote, the bill now moves to the Senate for consideration. The outcome showed a mostly party-line split, though 19 Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in supporting the measure. If the Senate also passes the bill and the President signs it, these new transparency rules will become law for all U.S. institutions of higher education that receive federal funding.
The bill has been received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for review.
OPEN BILL →Why it matters. This bill addresses concerns that foreign governments may use financial contributions to influence U.S. academic research or campus speech without public knowledge.
Who’s affected. U.S. Colleges and Universities: Must implement more rigorous tracking and reporting systems for all foreign financial contributions. · Foreign Entities and Governments: Their financial relationships with American academic institutions will be subject to greater U.S. government oversight. · American Students and Researchers: Increased transparency may alter how international research partnerships are funded and managed.
Democrats. The majority of the Democratic caucus opposed the bill, while 19 members crossed party lines to vote in favor.
Republicans. The Republican caucus was nearly unified in support, with 101 members voting yes and only one voting no.
On Passage
Mar 27, 2025
The House passed the DETERRENT Act (H.R.
1048), which requires colleges and universities to more strictly report financial gifts and contracts received from foreign sources.
This was the final vote in the House to approve the bill. Passing this stage means the House has finished its work on the legislation and is formally sending it to the Senate for their approval.
The bill has been received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for review.
This bill addresses concerns that foreign governments may use financial contributions to influence U.S. academic research or campus speech without public knowledge.
The bill passed through a bipartisan majority, with near-unanimous Republican support and a small group of Democrats joining the majority.
The majority of the Democratic caucus opposed the bill, while 19 members crossed party lines to vote in favor.
The Republican caucus was nearly unified in support, with 101 members voting yes and only one voting no.
The one independent member present voted in favor of the bill.