Colleges lose federal research funding if they operate campuses in nine countries
S. 4423 — A bill to amend the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to require each institution of higher education to certify as part of an application for a research and development award that such institution does not operate certain branch campuses, and for other purposes. · Filed by Rick Scott (R-FL) · Introduced Apr 28, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires U.S. colleges and universities to certify that they do not operate branch campuses in nine specified countries (Venezuela, North Korea, Iran, China, Cuba, Turkey, Russia, Qatar, and any others the State Department designates) in order to receive federal research funding. Institutions must make this certification within two years of the law's enactment. The bill aims to prevent foreign governments from accessing sensitive U.S. research through overseas campus operations.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a geopolitical eligibility filter for federal research funding. It does not fund research or create new programs; it restricts access to existing federal R&D awards based on institutional foreign campus operations.
What the text implies
- Institutions with legitimate academic or humanitarian missions in listed countries may face difficult choices: close those campuses or forfeit U.S. federal research funding, potentially affecting students and faculty in those regions.
- The 'any other country the Secretary of State determines appropriate' clause grants executive branch discretion to expand the list without congressional action, creating regulatory uncertainty for institutions.
- Compliance verification may require institutions to disclose detailed information about their international operations to federal agencies, raising privacy and administrative burden questions.
- The two-year implementation window may force rapid institutional restructuring, with potential legal and financial consequences for institutions with existing commitments in affected countries.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill protects U.S. research security and intellectual property from potential foreign government access, a legitimate public interest. However, it restricts institutional autonomy and may reduce research collaboration opportunities, potentially slowing scientific progress and limiting educational choice for students and faculty at affected institutions.
Named in the bill
Federal research agencies, Institutions of higher education, U.S. Department of State, Venezuela, North Korea, Iran, China, Cuba, Turkey, Russia, Qatar
Where it stands
- Apr 28, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Apr 28, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $240,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 99 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 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Rick Scott, the sponsor, reported $69,750 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Fdd Action — $240,000 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.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,740 characters) on Jul 5, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Colleges lose federal research funding if they operate campuses in nine countries” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s4423 Report an error
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