H.R. 2555 · 119th Congress

Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2026

Introduced on Apr 1, 2025 by Erin Houchin (R-IN-9). 43 cosponsors, 8 of them from another party. Latest action (Aug 27, 2026): Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 682.

Stage
Reported by committee
Introduced
Apr 1, 2025
Cosponsors
43
8 from the other party
Policy area
Education
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for certain freedom of association protections, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Higher education
  • School administration
  • Sex, gender, sexual orientation discrimination

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Apr 1, 2025). Public domain.

Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2025

This bill establishes freedom of association protections for college students in single-sex social organizations.

Specifically, the bill gives students (or groups of students) enrolled at institutions of higher education (IHEs) the right to form or join social organizations, including single-sex social organizations.

Additionally, the bill prohibits IHEs that participate in federal student aid programs from

  • taking adverse actions against single-sex social organizations or students who are members or prospective members of such organizations based solely on the practice of limiting membership to only individuals of one sex;
  • taking actions that require or coerce members or prospective members of such organizations to waive protections provided under the bill, including as a condition of enrolling in the IHE; or
  • imposing a recruitment restriction on a single-sex social organization that is not imposed upon other student organizations, unless the organization and IHE have entered into a written agreement allowing the restriction.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Erin HouchinR-IN-9Sponsor

Democrats · 8

Republicans · 35

Withdrawn cosponsors

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Apr 1, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Apr 1, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Apr 1, 2025 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
  4. Jun 25, 2026 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  5. Jun 25, 2026 · HouseOrdered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 18 - 15.
  6. Aug 27, 2026Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Workforce. H. Rept. 119-781.
  7. Aug 27, 2026 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Workforce. H. Rept. 119-781.
  8. Aug 27, 2026 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 682.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. Fraternal Government Relations Coalition6 reports
    $260K reported (all issues)
  2. National Panhellenic Conference2 reports
    $50K reported (all issues)
  3. ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM1 report
    $40K reported (all issues)
  4. American Federation of Teachers1 report
    $410K reported (all issues)
  5. Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)1 report
    $15K reported (all issues)
  6. North American Interfraternity Conference1 report
    $20K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2025, 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.