Overview
- Lawmakers on the House Education and Workforce Committee held a Thursday hearing titled “U.S. Universities Under Siege” to probe alleged foreign spying and influence on campuses.
- Republicans led by Chairman Tim Walberg said the Chinese Communist Party targets U.S. research, pointed to the House‑passed DETERRENT Act to expand foreign gift disclosures under Section 117, and cited ongoing Education Department compliance investigations.
- University of Michigan interim president Domenico Grasso said the school ended its partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and tightened vetting of people and materials, while a CBS News report noted that charges against three Chinese researchers over alleged dangerous biological materials were later dropped after the items were found not harmful.
- Stanford student Elsa Johnson testified that the FBI told her she is being physically monitored by agents tied to the Chinese state and that her family faces risks, and Stanford said it alerted the FBI and offers reporting channels through a research‑security office.
- Democrats criticized the inquiry as xenophobic and focused on student debt and agency capacity, and coverage diverged as conservative media emphasized spying claims while higher‑education press detailed dropped cases and the campus safeguards universities say they are building.