US House passes bill penalizing universities that participate in boycott of Israel - The Guardian

The Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act cleared the chamber 237 to 169, with 33 Democrats crossing party lines to support it and only two Republicans voting against. The bill now heads to the Senate. Texas Tech, like most major research universities, depends heavily on federal funding, making the vote relevant to students and administrators here.

The legislation ties participation in federal student aid programs directly to a school's stance on Israel boycotts. Universities that join such boycotts or restrict students from participating in Israeli exchange programs would risk losing that funding. For a school like Texas Tech, where thousands of students rely on Pell Grants and federal loans to cover tuition on 19th Street and beyond, any threat to that pipeline carries real weight.

The bill passed with a broader bipartisan margin than most recent legislation out of Washington, though the Senate's path forward is less clear. College campuses across the country have seen protests and divestment pushes over the past year, and this bill is a direct legislative response to that movement. The two Republican no votes were the only members of either party to break with their caucus in the opposite direction.