Why one California congressman split with the his party on a bill to curb foreign influence in higher education
A bill designed to limit foreign influence in U.S. universities divided Orange County’s congressional delegation.
The House passed the bill on Thursday, March 27. It would require universities to report to the U.S. Department of Education foreign gifts and contracts over $50,000 and is aimed at preventing foreign governments — particularly adversaries like China — from using financial donations to gain influence over U.S. academic institutions.
Only one Orange County Democrat, Rep. Derek Tran, joined Republicans in voting for the legislation, called the DETERRENT Act, while Reps. Lou Correa, Mike Levin, Dave Min and Linda Sánchez all voted against it.
Tran, D-Orange, called the bill a necessary step to ensure national security. He said that “institutions of higher learning keep American companies ahead of their global competitors and ensure that our national security apparatus is second to none.”
“I voted yes … to ensure that malign actors like the Chinese Communist Party can’t influence or steal these innovations developed on our shores.”
Tran is the first Vietnamese American to represent California’s 45th Congressional District, which includes Westminster and Garden Grove, home to a large Vietnamese American community. Known as Little Saigon, the area is deeply rooted in anti-communist sentiment, shaped by the experiences of many Vietnamese Americans who fled communist rule and remain wary of communist regimes like China’s.
Standing up to China was a key platform in the freshman Democrat’s congressional campaign, where he pledged to advocate for measures that counter “Chinese aggression and expansionism” while protecting American interests.
But Min, also a freshman Democrat, said he had concerns that the bill would create extra red tape for universities and potentially invade the privacy of people who want to support them.
He also raised concerns that the legislation could unfairly target donors based on their country of origin, potentially exacerbating discrimination against Asians.
“The DETERRENT Act is another outrageous attack on our research universities — and one that will demonize Asian Americans and drive anti-Asian hate. This legislation opens up a Pandora’s box for higher education institutions, placing burdensome regulations on them,” Min, D-Irvine, said. “This bill paves the way for unfair and illegal targeting of donors based on their country of origin and will add more fuel to the racism and xenophobia that have terrorized so many Asian Americans and others over the past decade.”
The DETERRENT Act — it stands for “Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions” — lowers the threshold for reporting foreign gifts and contracts to $50,000, a sharp decrease from the current threshold of $250,000.
Under the legislation, universities would also be required to report to the Department of Education any foreign gifts or contracts annually, and there will be penalties for those who fail to comply, including the loss of some federal funding.
Correa, D-Santa Ana, said legislators needed to consider unintended consequences.
“And this legislation does not effectively address U.S. national and research security concerns, contrary to its namesake,” Correa said. “As written, it is overly broad and could have disastrous consequences on our universities’ research partnerships and funding for our students.”
Correa also argued that assigning national security responsibilities to the Department of Education, especially amid the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down the department, is unfeasible.
Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to start dismantling the department, established in 1979. To dismantle the department, Trump would need congressional approval.
“At a time when we don’t know the department’s future, or where our relationships with our allies stand, this isn’t the right way to protect our national security. It only stands to hurt our economy and hard-working American taxpayers,” Correa said.
Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Washington, who introduced the legislation in February, said the bill “reflects a growing consensus that transparency and accountability are essential in safeguarding American universities from the influence of foreign adversaries, particularly the Chinese Communist Party.”
The bill, now headed to the Senate, has 21 cosponsors in the House, and all but two are Republican. Reps. Don Davis of North Carolina and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington are the two Democratic co-sponsors. On Thursday, only 31 Democrats voted for the bill.
This isn’t the first time Congress has taken up this effort. Similar legislation in 2023 made it out of the House but died in the Senate.
That bill was authored by Michelle Steel, who represented California’s 45th District at the time but was defeated by Tran in 2024.
“When foreign governments give money to our universities, they don’t do it out of the goodness of their hearts; they want something in return,” Steel, a Republican, said in 2023. “Whether it’s terror-friendly states like Qatar or Iran, or brutal human rights abusers like the CCP, our campuses must not become puppets of countries who hate America.”
Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, on Thursday joined her GOP colleagues in voting in favor of the bill.