S. 1296 · 119th Congress

DETERRENT Act

Introduced on Apr 3, 2025 by Thom Tillis (R-NC). 24 cosponsors, 1 of them from another party. Latest action (Apr 3, 2025): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Apr 3, 2025
Cosponsors
24
1 from the other party
Policy area
Education
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

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

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

Official title

A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to strengthen disclosure requirements relating to foreign gifts and contracts, to prohibit contracts between institutions of higher education and certain foreign entities and countries of concern, and for other purposes.

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in Senate, Apr 3, 2025). Public domain.

Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions Act or the DETERRENT Act

This bill expands oversight and disclosure requirements related to foreign sources and institutions of higher education (IHEs).

Specifically, the bill requires an IHE to annually disclose to the Department of Education (ED) any year in which the IHE

  • receives a gift from a foreign country of concern (e.g., China or Russia) or foreign entity of concern of any dollar amount;
  • receives a gift or contract from a foreign source (other than a foreign country of concern or foreign entity of concern) that is valued at $50,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts or contracts within a calendar year (current disclosure threshold is $250,000 or more), or which has an undetermined monetary value;
  • enters into a contract with a foreign country of concern or foreign entity of concern after receiving a waiver for such contract; or
  • is substantially controlled by a foreign source.

Additionally, the bill

  • prohibits IHEs from entering into contracts with a foreign country of concern or with a foreign entity of concern without obtaining a waiver, and
  • requires certain IHEs to disclose gifts or contracts between covered individuals (e.g., researchers) and foreign sources.

The bill requires ED to investigate possible violations of this bill and outlines the various penalties for each violation. Penalties may include losing eligibility for federal student financial aid.

Sponsor and cosponsors

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

Thom TillisR-NCSponsor

Democrats · 1

Republicans · 23

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 3, 2025Introduced in Senate
  2. Apr 3, 2025 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

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. American Council on Education6 reports
    $328K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION$5M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  2. REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION6 reports
    $600K reported (all issues)
  3. RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY6 reports
    $600K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: RUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY$15.3M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  4. FDD Action5 reports
    $1.2M reported (all issues)
  5. JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY5 reports
    $1M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY$30.2M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  6. Association of American Universities3 reports
    $398.7K reported (all issues)
  7. BOSTON UNIVERSITY3 reports
    $170K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: BOSTON UNIVERSITY, TRUSTEES OFAI match · 100%
  8. HARVARD UNIVERSITY--PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE3 reports
    $700K reported (all issues)
  9. University of California3 reports
    $2.4M reported (all issues)
  10. YALE UNIVERSITY3 reports
    $870K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: YALE UNIVERSITY$448.7K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  11. Association of American Medical Colleges2 reports
    $1.4M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN MEDICAL COLLEGESAI match · 100%
  12. COUNCIL FOR ADVANCEMENT AND SUPPORT OF EDUCATION2 reports
    $80K reported (all issues)
  13. Christians United for Israel Action Fund2 reports
    $140K reported (all issues)
  14. College of William & Mary2 reports
    $40K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY$32.9K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  15. MIDDLE EAST FORUM2 reports
    $60K reported (all issues)
  16. NATIONAL ASSN OF INDEPENDENT COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES2 reports
    $255K reported (all issues)
  17. Anti-Defamation League1 report
    $320K reported (all issues)
  18. TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL U.S. (A PROJECT OF THE FUND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVT)1 report
    $40K reported (all issues)
  19. UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA1 report
    $100K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS$19.1M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 96%
  20. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS1 report
    $40K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS$2.9M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 99%
  21. UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND1 report
    $27K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: UNIVERSITY OF MARYLANDAI match · 100%
  22. University of New Hampshire1 report
  23. Vanderbilt University1 report
    $210K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY$1.6M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%

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 8, 2026 · loaded Oct 8, 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 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 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.