{"id":179,"date":"2026-06-04T19:39:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=179"},"modified":"2026-06-04T19:39:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:39:23","slug":"trump-backs-senates-version-of-college-athletics-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=179","title":{"rendered":"Trump backs Senate’s version of college athletics bill"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Donald Trump on Thursday broke his silence over competing bills that would implement major changes to college sports, backing a bipartisan Senate measure and calling for the House and Senate to come together and send him legislation to sign this summer.<\/p>\n

Read more Booker, Cassidy back legal challenge to \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund<\/a><\/p>\n

In a social media post, Trump backed the Senate\u2019s bill, primarily drafted by Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington. Missouri GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt and Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons were original co-sponsors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Law resolves many of the most urgent issues challenging our Universities and Student-Athletes, stops the chaos and, most importantly, it may be the last chance to save College Sports, and Colleges themselves, before it\u2019s too late,\u201d Trump wrote, a day after the panel heard from a number of college officials who also support the measure.<\/p>\n

A longtime sports fan, Trump for months has called collegiate athletics a seriously flawed industry that could soon collapse under the financial weight of its name, image and likeness or \u201cNIL\u201d policies. Echoing college officials, coaches, fans and many lawmakers, the president also has criticized the transfer portal for creating chaos and undermining student-athletes.<\/p>\n

The House and Senate for months appeared on a collision course as the chambers put together competing versions that approached thorny issues much differently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Trump applauded Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, both Louisiana Republicans, for trying to write and pass their own bill, on Thursday he called for the chambers to quickly coalesce around the Cruz-Cantwell measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge the House and Senate to come together to pass a final Bipartisan Law, that I can sign this summer, that reflects the views and input of both Chambers. WE HAVE TO SAVE COLLEGE SPORTS! Thank you for your attention to this matter,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Read more Activities around the 250th highlight America\u2019s disunity<\/a><\/p>\n

The Commerce Committee has not yet set a date for a markup, but aides from both parties say they hope to do so this month.<\/p>\n

At the Wednesday hearing, Cruz noted that the \u201cHouse of Representatives tried multiple times to pass a bill, unfortunately, it failed repeatedly,\u201d describing the Senate measure as \u201cthe only bipartisan bill out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the last, best hope we have to save college sports,\u201d Cruz said to a panel of senior college sports officials. \u201cIf Congress fails to act, if we get locked up in partisan gridlock and we just yell at each other, which sadly, we\u2019re very good at, what happens to college sports three, four, five years from now?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick Saban, a former head football coach at the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University who won seven national titles, told the Commerce Committee that without federal legislation \u201cwe\u2019re going to be paying a player so much, and I really think the only way to remedy this is, you know, we have competitive conferences, we have competitive teams, we have competitors involved in trying to create an advantage for themselves in every way that we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without the Cruz-Cantwell bill, which he backed, Saban warned \u201cwe\u2019re \u2026 making these huge investments in football and basketball, in terms of paying players, which is going up and up and up and up, that we should change the [term] from \u2018student-athlete\u2019 to \u2018athlete that\u2019s a student,\u2019 because we\u2019re going to have professional sports teams that are sponsored by colleges and universities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The GOP push to \u2018love thy neighbor\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump on Thursday broke his silence over competing bills that would implement major changes to college sports, backing a bipartisan Senate measure and calling for the House and Senate to come together and send him legislation to sign this summer. 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