Louisiana Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy speaks with reporters in the Dirksen Senate office building, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — Members of a U.S. Senate panel expressed bipartisan consensus Thursday that the country should be wary of “malign” foreign dollars flowing into U.S. colleges and universities, with some Democrats also arguing that recent funding cuts undermine the country’s leadership in global research.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on “malign foreign influence on higher education” came after President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans called for more transparency requirements when it comes to foreign gifts and contracts reaching these schools.
Institutions of higher education receiving federal financial aid are required to disclose any foreign gifts or contracts worth at least $250,000 annually. This requirement has been in place since 1986, when the Higher Education Act 1965 was amended to include a reporting provision known as s. 117.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and chairman of the panel, said that ultimately universities “are designed to ensure student success and they should be our priority, but that priority can be undermined when foreign adversaries attempt to influence college campuses … which inherently threatens national security.”
A bill that would expand Section 117 disclosure requirements and lowering the reporting threshold from $250,000 to $50,000 was passed by the House in March 2025. The measure was sponsored by Rep. Michael Baumgartner, a Republican from Washington state.
Cassidy, who is he? co-directing the bill accompanying the Senate bill and North Carolina GOP Sen. Thom Tillis called for protecting college campuses through “transparency,” noting that his legislation would be another step in that direction.
Thursday’s hearing also came as the administration continues its efforts to disband the 46-year-old Department of Education, including through a series of interagency agreements that outsource some of their responsibilities to other departments.
In one of these contracts The Department of State will facilitate education Manage reporting of foreign gifts and arrangements under Section 117.
Cuts in research enhance security vulnerabilities
While Democrats saw the need to root out “malign” foreign influences in higher education, a handful set their sights on the administration’s cuts to federal research funding and broader “attacks” on higher education.
“While I agree that it is important to eliminate dangerous sources of foreign influence in our higher education system, I believe it is important that we also address how cuts in research funding can increase foreign influence internationally and weaken U.S. competitiveness,” said Senator Angela Alsobrooks.
The Maryland Democrat highlighted the impact of administrative cuts to the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s top medical research agency under her state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Senator Tim Kaine highlighted the loss of scientists in the United States due to cuts in research funding.
“This administration has canceled billions of dollars in federal research, putting many of our researchers at risk of being recruited by universities in other countries, not necessarily China, but Canada, (the UK) and universities in Europe,” the Virginia Democrat said.
Senator Patty Murray said she thought it was “absurd”. Trump and Republicans “are willing to burn billions of dollars a day” in the ongoing war with Iran, while she and many others are “fighting hard” for the administration to “release the billions of dollars Congress has appropriated to provide to our students.”
“It’s not happening, and states like mine have to routinely file lawsuits,” the Washington state Democrat said, while calling on Education Secretary Linda McMahon to testify before the panel about ongoing dismantling efforts.
Cassidy said the panel was in talks with the department to schedule McMahon’s testimony.
Clear dashboard
department public transparency panel — posted on a website launched in January where colleges and universities are responsible for disclosing foreign gifts and contracts — also came to the fore at Thursday’s hearing.
Visualizing four decades of data, the dashboard offers a snapshot of foreign funding disclosures provided by colleges and universities.
At least 559 institutions disclosed foreign gifts and contracts worth $72.1 billion between 1986 and the end of January 2026, according to the panel.
However, the current version of the dashboard’s usability is circumscribed by the inability to filter by year.
Robert Daly, a senior fellow at the Asia Society and former director of the Kissinger Institute for China and the United States at the Wilson Center, told the panel that the cumulative nature of the dashboard is one of the “greatest silences.” This tool does not allow the public to observe any fluctuations over the years in the amount of money in the form of foreign gifts and contracts received by schools.
He added that “not only do we need to see how donations from each country change over time, but we need to be able to distinguish between different types of donations.”
