Federal research funding blocked from foreign adversaries—but waiver process lacks transparency

What it does

This bill prohibits U.S. federal research funding from being used to collaborate with foreign entities on restricted government lists—including Chinese military companies, sanctioned entities, and firms tied to forced labor. Federal agencies can grant case-by-case waivers if collaboration serves national security or critical scientific goals, but must report waivers to Congress within 30 days.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core function is to restrict federal research funding flows to foreign entities on U.S. government restricted lists, framed as a national security measure. It is not a commemorative, appropriations, or tax bill—it is a regulatory prohibition with national-security justification.

What the text implies

• Waiver authority is vested entirely in agency heads with only post-hoc Congressional notification (not pre-approval), creating potential for inconsistent enforcement across agencies and limited legislative oversight of individual waivers.
• The definition of 'research collaboration' is extremely broad—including data sharing, co-authorship, and even access to datasets or software—meaning even passive or indirect involvement with a restricted entity could trigger the prohibition.
• The bill references multiple overlapping restricted-entity lists (Commerce, Treasury, Defense, State, FCC, etc.), some of which are updated unilaterally by the executive branch, creating a moving target for compliance and potential for regulatory drift without Congressional input.
• Universities and research institutions may face significant compliance costs and administrative burden to vet all collaborators, potentially chilling legitimate international partnerships even where no waiver is needed, due to legal risk aversion.
• The inclusion of the 'Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List' and 'biotechnology companies of concern' lists expands the scope beyond traditional national-security adversaries to include human-rights and supply-chain concerns, blurring the bill's stated purpose.

Who it affects

The bill protects national security and research integrity by blocking funding flows to adversarial regimes and entities with human-rights concerns—a public benefit. However, it may reduce access to critical international scientific collaboration, potentially slowing medical breakthroughs, climate research, and other public-good research that requires global partnerships. The waiver mechanism and reporting requirement provide some flexibility and oversight, but the net effect on ordinary citizen

Who stands to gain

• U.S. domestic research institutions and universities (reduced competition from foreign collaborators
• U.S. defense contractors and national laboratories (potential increase in domestic-only research con
• Domestic biotechnology and semiconductor firms (reduced foreign competition in federally funded rese

Named in the bill

Office of Science and Technology Policy, Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control, Department of Defense, Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, Federal Communications Commission, National Laboratories, People's Republic of China, Energy Policy Act of 2005, John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act — and 3 more

Where it stands

7 cosponsors: 7 Republicans.

• May 19, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• May 19, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

7 lobbying clients named this bill on 7 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $862,193 in lobbying spend. A filing names 20 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 86% of bills with at least one filing.

John Moolenaar, the sponsor, reported $595,100 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Fdd Action — $240,000 on 1 filing
• Harvard University--president and Fellows of Harvard College — $210,000 on 1 filing
• Stanford University — $130,000 on 1 filing
• Association of American Universities — $114,662 on 1 filing
• Rutgers the State University of New Jersey — $80,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.