Federal research funding blocked from foreign adversaries—but waiver process lacks transparency
H.R. 8901 — Securing Innovation and Research from Adversaries Act · Filed by John Moolenaar (R-MI) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced May 19, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
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 full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
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