Legislation· Mar 2025Sponsored by Michael Baumgartner (R)
DETERRENT Act
Requires colleges to disclose foreign gifts and contracts worth $50,000 or more to the Department of Education.
Tradeoff
Expands foreign funding transparency at higher education institutions. Schools must report donations from certain countries and face fines or loss of federal aid for violations.
What's in it
Less than $500,000 in federal administrative costs over 2025-2030; negligible impact on federal revenues and student aid spending.
The $500,000 is just the federal cost to administer disclosure requirements and investigations — the policy's real impact falls on higher education institutions that must report foreign gifts and contracts, comply with restrictions on contracts with China or Russia, and face fines or loss of federal student aid eligibility for non-compliance.
The House passed this bill 241-169 on March 27, 2025 — now pending in the Senate.
House
Introduced
(Feb 6, 2025)
House
Committee on Education and Workforce(Feb 6, 2025)
House
The Committee on Education and Workforce voted to send it to the floor
Reported 20 - 14(Feb 12, 2025)
Committee report H. Rept. 119-16.
House
Passage of the bill
Passed(Roll #83 · Mar 27, 2025)
241 yeanay 169Senate
Received from the House
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions(Mar 31, 2025)
- Mark Messmer (R-IN)
- Burgess Owens (R-UT)
- Rick W. Allen (R-GA)
- Kevin Kiley (R-CA)
- Tim Walberg (R-MI)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC)
- Michael A. Rulli (R-OH)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Glenn Grothman (R-WI)
- Robert Onder (R-MO)
- Claudia Tenney (R-NY)
- Glenn Thompson (R-PA)
- Randy K. Sr. Weber (R-TX)
- Andy Barr (R-KY)
- Erin Houchin (R-IN)
- Aaron Bean (R-FL)
- Donald G. Davis (D-NC)
- Brad Finstad (R-MN)
- Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA)
- John James (R-MI)
- John R. Moolenaar (R-MI)
Passage votes so far· Mar 27, 2025· 119th Congress · 2025–2027