US House advances bill to withhold federal funds from universities boycotting Israel

The US House of Representatives on Thursday advanced legislation blocking federal funding from universities that boycott Israel, with 33 moderate Democrats joining almost every Republican in backing the measure.

After passing by a margin of 237 to 169, the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act still needs to be passed by the Senate before it can be signed into law.

The bill seeks to “amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit an institution that participates in a nonexpressive commercial boycott of Israel from being eligible for certain funds under that act [and] to require an institution that participates in certain programs under that act to certify that students are not unreasonably obstructed from participating in academic programs in Israel, and for other purposes.”

House Democratic leadership opposed the bill over what it said were free speech concerns, in addition to arguing that it doesn’t differentiate between Israel and settlements in the West Bank, which much of the international community deems illegal.

Explaining his opposition to the bill, House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said, “Our Jewish brothers and sisters deserve safety and security on campuses across the nation, and I continue to oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Unfortunately, H.R. 4795 is a poorly written Republican bill that does not achieve that goal.”

“Instead, it would provide [US President] Donald Trump with the power to punitively launch political attacks on our colleges and universities, which are already under tremendous stress due to the toxic actions of this extreme Republican administration. When we are in the majority, House Democrats will advance unifying legislation to aggressively combat the rise of antisemitism and protect the Jewish community in America,” he adds.

Defending the bill, its Democratic cosponsor Representative Josh Gottheimer told lawmakers during a speech before the vote that it “simply says that if your university takes federal taxpayer dollars, it can’t discriminate against academic partnerships or investments with one country.”

The legislation’s advancement came amid the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign targeting elite universities it believes are overrun by left-wing ideology and antisemitism, which has spiked on university campuses across the US since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught that sparked the Gaza war.

Agencies contributed to this report.