Republican Texas Rep. Troy Nehls introduced legislation Wednesday that would prevent U.S. universities from selling the intellectual property (IP) rights of their research to certain foreign countries, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.
Nehls’ Preventing Research Ownership Transfer to External Competitive Threats (PROTECT) Act would establish civil penalties for U.S. universities that sell the intellectual property rights of research conducted by their institutions, staff or students to foreign governments such as China, Russia or Iran, according to the bill’s text first obtained by the DCNF. The legislation would also allow the Department of Justice and the State Department to seize any funding a university received from such foreign nations in exchange for covered research.
“Under no circumstance should U.S. universities be selling the intellectual property rights of their research to foreign, hostile nations,” Nehls said in a statement provided to the DCNF. “Our country’s universities should be focused on advancing American students’ education rather than jeopardizing the national security of the United States and spoon-feeding our adversaries a technological edge. My legislation ensures [that] U.S. universities aren’t compromising the security of our nation by prohibiting them from selling the IP rights of their research to nations that hate us.”
Nehls’ bill is being cosponsored by Republican Texas Rep. Brandon Gill.
Some U.S. government agencies have previously raised concerns over foreign countries’ influence in the nation’s academic research, according to Syracuse University. President Donald Trump issued an April 2025 executive orderaiming to eliminate the “secrecy surrounding foreign funds in American educational institutions, protect the marketplace of ideas from propaganda sponsored by foreign governments, and safeguard America’s students and research from foreign exploitation.”
The Department of Education (ED) launched an online dashboard in January to highlight U.S. universities’ total reported contracts and donations from foreign entities. American universities are notably required to disclose any foreign gifts and contracts valued at $250,000 or more under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
U.S. colleges and universities reported receiving over $5.2 billion in foreign gifts and contracts in 2025, ED announced on Wednesday, citing foreign funding disclosures data.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a December 2025 statement that American universities and colleges “have both a moral and legal obligation to be fully transparent with the U.S. government and the American people about their foreign financial relationships.”
Nehls announced in a November 2025 statement posted to X that he will not seek reelection to the House of Representatives after his term ends in 2026, writing that he instead wants to “focus” on his family and “return home.” The congressman and President Donald Trump both endorsed Nehls’ twin brother, Trever, to succeed him.
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