Congress Proposes New Disclosure Rules for College Faculty Receiving Foreign Gifts and Contracts
This bill is currently sitting in the House Committee on Education and Workforce. No action has been taken on this proposal since March 2025, which means it has been stalled for 15 months. The House committee must decide to review the bill before it can move forward, but most bills like this never receive a vote.
No action since March 2025
This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.
Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 5902 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 5902 (118th) →Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works
Students at large research universities wouldn't directly report anything themselves, but this bill could indirectly affect them in two ways. If their school loses federal student aid eligibility for repeated violations, students could lose access to Pell Grants and federal loans at that institution. On the other hand, greater transparency about foreign funding could help protect the integrity of the research environment students learn in.
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
The House Education and Workforce Committee advanced the DETERRENT Act, which incorporates the Disclose GIFT Act's requirements for faculty to report foreign gifts and contracts. The bill lowers reporting thresholds and mandates a public database to reveal ties to 'countries of concern.'
House lawmakers approved the DETERRENT Act (H.R. 5933) in a 246-170 vote. The legislation, which includes provisions from Rep. John James' Disclose GIFT Act, tightens reporting requirements for foreign gifts and contracts, lowering the threshold to $50,000 for most countries and $0 for adversaries.
The House passed the DETERRENT Act, aiming to close loopholes in Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. The bill requires individual faculty and staff at research-heavy institutions to disclose foreign gifts and implements heavy fines for non-compliance, including the loss of federal student aid.
No votes recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Disclose GIFT Act
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