RIFA Act
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Reporting on Investments in Foreign Adversaries Act or the RIFA Act
This bill requires private institutions of higher education (IHEs) with specified assets or investments involving foreign countries or entities of concern to file annual investment disclosure reports. The bill applies to a private IHE with (1) assets in excess of $6 billion, or (2) investments of concern in excess of $250 million.
Specifically, the bill requires such a private IHE to file a disclosure report with the Department of Education (ED) for a year in which the IHE purchases, sells, or holds one or more investments of concern. Investment of concern means any specified interest (e.g., stock or debt) with respect to a foreign country of concern (e.g., North Korea, China, Russia, or Iran) or a foreign entity of concern (e.g., a foreign entity that is designated as a foreign terrorist organization).
Additionally, the bill requires ED to establish and maintain a publicly available and searchable database with these disclosure reports.
The bill requires ED to investigate possible violations of this bill and outlines the various penalties for each violation. Penalties may include losing eligibility for federal student financial aid.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 5, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 5, 2025: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Burgess Owens (R-UT) introduced it on February 5, 2025, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 5, 2025, 582 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 582 days ago, on February 5, 2025.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers