What Happened
The House passed a bill this month that would strip federal student aid eligibility from colleges and universities that participate in certain boycotts of Israel. The Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act passed 237-169, with 203 Republicans, 33 Democrats and one independent voting yes, and 167 Democrats and two Republicans voting no. It now heads to the Senate, where it will need 60 votes to advance.
The bill’s lead Democratic sponsor, Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, spoke in favor of it on the floor but is recorded as “Not Voting” in the official House roll call.
Background
The bill, co-sponsored by Gottheimer and Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make institutions ineligible for federal funding if they engage in a “nonexpressive commercial boycott” of Israel, including boycotts targeting businesses or institutions based in Israeli settlements. It also requires schools to ensure Israeli students and faculty can fully participate in their academic programs, and that their own students are not “unreasonably obstructed” from participating in programs in Israel. The bill targets the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement specifically.
Among the 33 Democrats who voted yes were several prominent Jewish members of Congress, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz of Florida, alongside Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts and Jared Golden of Maine. The vote came as the vast majority of Democratic voters nationally hold increasingly negative views of Israeli government policy, according to polling cited in coverage of the vote.
What Different Sides Are Saying
Supporters, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, describe the bill as a bipartisan effort to counter the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and protect academic engagement with Israel. Fact-check: the BDS movement’s own public platform describes its aims as targeting Israeli state policy and institutions, not Jewish people generally; whether the movement functions in practice as the bill’s supporters describe is a matter of genuine dispute this article does not resolve.
Opponents, including Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., who has separately criticized the BDS movement, argue the bill violates protected political speech. Nadler said on the floor that “the First Amendment right to free speech does not apply only to agreeable speech.” Fact-check: the Supreme Court’s 1982 ruling in NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware held that a political boycott was constitutionally protected activity in that case. Whether a funding-conditions approach like this bill’s would be treated the same way under current law is a distinct legal question the courts have not yet answered, since conditioning federal aid is a different legal mechanism than directly penalizing a boycott.
The ACLU, which sent a letter to House members opposing the bill, has specifically objected to a provision requiring schools to show a “valid business reason” for severing ties with Israeli institutions, arguing it improperly shifts the legal burden onto the boycotting party. This article could not locate a direct response from the bill’s sponsors to the ACLU’s specific legal objection.
Note on Scope
The bill’s fate in the Senate is uncertain given the 60-vote threshold. This article covers the House vote and does not attempt to predict Senate action.
Related Links
- Every Democrat Who Voted to Defund Schools That Boycott Israel – The New Republic
- 33 Dems Help Pass House Bill That Would Strip Funds From Colleges That Boycott Israel – Common Dreams
- US House passes bill stripping federal funds from universities that boycott Israel – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
- House Passes Bill Blocking Aid to Colleges That Boycott Israel – Inside Higher Ed
- US House advances bill to withhold federal funding from universities boycotting Israel – The Times of Israel
Discussion Questions
- Do you think a college’s institutional decisions, like a boycott, should be treated as protected political speech?
- Should federal funding ever be conditioned on a school’s foreign policy positions?
- Do you find the bill’s supporters’ framing or the ACLU’s First Amendment objection more persuasive?
- Why do you think 33 Democrats broke with the majority of their party on this vote?
- Does it matter to you that the bill’s lead Democratic sponsor did not ultimately cast a vote?
- How should Congress balance combating discrimination against a specific country with protecting the right to boycott?
- What would you want to know about how “unreasonably obstructed” would be defined in practice?
- Should this kind of funding condition apply to boycotts of any country, or is Israel a special case?
- How should universities that currently have boycott policies respond if this becomes law?
- Imagine you are a senator from a swing state deciding how to vote on this bill. What would weigh most heavily on your decision?
