Passed
247 Yea164 Nay22 Not voting1/2 required
HR-1069-119
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sponsored by Kevin Hern (R-OK)
What it does
This bill would prohibit federal education funds from being made available to any elementary or secondary school that has a partnership with a Chinese government-funded cultural or language institute (such as a Confucius Institute), operates a Chinese government-supported learning center (such as a "Confucius Classroom"), or otherwise receives support — including teaching materials, personnel, funds, or other resources — from any individual or entity acting on behalf of the Chinese government. The prohibition would take effect one year after enactment. Schools with pre-existing contracts could apply to the Secretary of Education for a temporary waiver lasting until the contract expires, provided they submit the full contract text and demonstrate the arrangement benefits students and U.S. national interests.
Who benefits
U.S. national security and counterintelligence agencies that have raised concerns about Chinese government influence in American educational institutions. Schools that have already severed ties with Chinese government-linked programs and would no longer compete for federal funds against schools that have not. Parents and community members concerned about foreign government influence in K-12 curricula. Domestic providers of Mandarin language instruction and cultural programming who could fill the gap left by departing Chinese government-linked programs.
Who is hurt
K-12 schools — particularly those in lower-income or rural districts — that currently rely on Chinese government-linked programs for Mandarin language instruction or cultural resources and may lack the budget to replace them. Students enrolled in those programs who could lose access to language education. Teachers and program staff employed through Chinese government-linked partnerships who may lose their positions. Schools that cannot quickly exit pre-existing contracts and may face a funding gap before a waiver is granted. Indirectly, students in districts where schools choose to drop federal funding rather than terminate partnerships.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that the FBI and bipartisan congressional investigations have documented that Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms operate under contracts that give the Chinese government influence over curriculum content, personnel decisions, and campus activities — concerns serious enough that Congress already banned such programs at U.S. universities receiving Defense Department funds in 2019. They contend that extending this protection to K-12 schools is a logical and overdue step, given that children are more vulnerable to foreign influence than college students, and that no foreign government should have a role in shaping American elementary and secondary education in exchange for federal taxpayer dollars.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that the bill's broad language — covering anyone acting "directly or indirectly" on behalf of the Chinese government — is vague enough to sweep in legitimate cultural exchanges, donated textbooks, or visiting teachers with no intelligence connection, potentially cutting off Mandarin language access for students in under-resourced schools that have no alternative. They contend that the bill imposes a funding penalty without requiring any finding of actual harm or misconduct, and that the waiver process places an unrealistic compliance burden on small school districts with limited legal and administrative capacity to review and translate contracts on a 90-day timeline.
Constitutional context
Congress has broad authority to attach conditions to federal spending under the Spending Clause (Art. I, §8), and the Supreme Court has long upheld such conditions provided they are unambiguous and related to the federal interest in the program. The bill's "indirect" support language could face a Due Process challenge for vagueness, and post-Loper Bright (2024), any Secretary of Education guidance interpreting the scope of "indirect" support would receive no automatic judicial deference, meaning courts would independently assess whether agency interpretations of the statute's boundaries are correct.
Checks and balances
Congress conditions federal spending, giving the executive branch (Secretary of Education) authority to issue waivers and compliance guidance; courts retain independent review of agency interpretations of the statute's scope under Loper Bright (2024).
Historical precedent
The National Defense Authorization Act for FY2019 prohibited Defense Department funds from going to universities hosting Confucius Institutes, establishing a direct congressional precedent for using federal funding conditions to restrict Chinese government-linked educational programs — though that measure applied to higher education, not K-12 schools.
Passed