Latest news with #GusBilirakis
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House settlement enters political arena, where there's much congressional debating — and sniping — over college sports' future
Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) on a potential federal college sports bill: 'We're almost there, but I know we can make some tweaks that could improve the bill. We are close to filing the bill and getting it to markups.' (Photo byfor Breakthrough T1D) WASHINGTON — Just a few minutes into Thursday's congressional hearing on college sports, a Democrat member accused her Republican colleagues of secretly drafting the legislation, intentionally cutting out members of her party and not properly giving public notification of the hearing. Seconds later, another member put aside college sports talk to discuss how President Donald Trump, he says, is 'trying to destroy American higher education.' Advertisement And a third sitting committee member, very flatly, described her feelings on legislation that would grant the NCAA and power conferences liability protection: 'This is something I cannot support.' If anyone thought the approval of the House settlement would result in a newfound focus and agreement among lawmakers over a federal college sports bill, think again. 'I just want to get this straight,' began Lori Trahan, a Democrat U.S. House representative from Massachusetts and a former college volleyball player, 'this committee is considering a bill that would constrain or roll back athlete rights, block further progress and give them little in return?' Strong push — and pushback — to get to a House vote Thursday's near 2 1/2 hour hearing before a House Commerce subcommittee signaled, quite clearly, that a bipartisan resolution over congressional legislation may still be leagues away — despite the passage of a landmark settlement ushering in the age of athlete revenue sharing within college sports. Advertisement In fact, Democrat members of this committee — the one that controls the future of any college sports bill in the House — launched criticisms toward the settlement itself. They don't, for instance, like the cap on athlete compensation (the settlement comes with an annual rev-share spending max per school). And they don't like the new enforcement entity (it stands to make athletes ineligible if third-party NIL deals are rejected by a new clearinghouse). 'I have some concerns with the current iteration of this bill as well as some provisions of the settlement,' said Yvette Clarke, a Democrat representative from New York. 'I am extremely hesitant to grant any kind of liability limit on antitrust exemptions at this stage given that antitrust lawsuits are the driving factor in bringing about this long overdue era of fair compensation for college athletes.' And then, nearly two hours into the hearing, Clarke voiced publicly what so many inside and outside college athletics believe to be a solution. 'There needs to be some kind of legitimate collective bargaining between college athletes and the NCAA and its member institutions,' she said. Despite Democrat pushback Thursday, Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), the chair of this House Commerce subcommittee, plans to soon introduce his bill, a draft of which was socialized last week and was at the center of the hearing. The bill mostly grants the NCAA and power conferences all of their requests for federal legislation: (1) preempts state NIL laws; (2) grants limited protection to enforce rules by codifying the settlement terms; and (3) deems college athletes as students and not employees. Advertisement After the hearing, Bilirakis told Yahoo Sports that he is open to considering suggestions from Democrats on changing portions of the draft. He is in the process of attempting to find a Democrat co-sponsor for the legislation, and he will now begin negotiating with members of two other House committees — Judiciary and Ed/Workforce — to attempt to reach a bipartisan agreement that seems, if not impossible, improbable. Either way, a bill is coming. 'We're almost there, but I know we can make some tweaks that could improve the bill,' Bilirakis said. 'We are close to filing the bill and getting it to markups.' But what then? 'Intentionally vague' future in college sports Because of the Republican majority in the House, the bill, even without Democrat support, could work its way out of committee and onto the floor, where a vote along party lines may see it approved and then shipped to the Senate for a similar process. Advertisement However, despite a Republican majority in the Senate, legislation there faces a much more difficult path because of filibuster rules. Without 60 senators voting for the bill — that includes seven Democrats or independents — it is subject to delay. If Thursday's hearing is any indication, Democrats believe that this legislation grants the NCAA and conferences too much antitrust protection and 'halts' progress made by athletes over compensation. A similar draft of a bill exists in the Senate from Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas who has spearheaded negotiations over a college sports bill in that chamber. Five senators — three Democrats and two Republicans — have held regular in-person gatherings over legislation since March. No agreement has been reached, but Cruz, like Bilirakis, seems determined to introduce a bill soon. The hurdles in reaching an agreement include (1) the breadth of liability protection and to which entity to grant those powers; (2) the anti-employment clause and its duration; and (3) long-term medical and healthcare support for athletes. Advertisement One thing is becoming abundantly clear: Without federal legislation, the NCAA and power conferences fear that the stream of legal challenges against its rules will continue, even within the House settlement structure. The settlement leaves college sports' future 'intentionally vague,' described South Carolina Republican House member Russell Fry. But does this bill 'go too far?' he asked aloud. 'You don't want to go too far and create more problems than you solve.' One of the big problems, lawmakers and college stakeholders say, is the unlimited amount of transfers within the industry — something that evolved into a leading discussion point in Thursday's hearing. One witness in the hearing, William King, the SEC's associate commissioner for legal affairs, told lawmakers that officials need federal legislation to 'regulate transfers' — something that even some Democrats agree with. While new revenue-share contracts struck between schools and athletes are expected to limit movement, the contracts are not employment deals, thus many are questioning their enforceability. Advertisement 'I thought it was crazy that kids were transferring during the NCAA tournament,' said Democrat Marc Veasey of Texas. However, later on, Veasey said that pro-NCAA legislation such as this turns back college sports to a past without athlete compensation and other benefits. 'The past,' said Veasey, 'was jacked up.' The Republicans fired back. 'We are not here to micromanage college sports,' Bilirakis said. 'We are here to strengthen it.' Few across the aisle see it that way. In fact, Trahan took issue with the new enforcement entity, the College Sports Commission, and the NIL clearinghouse, 'NIL Go,' that is expected to review third-party athlete NIL deals to determine if they are 'real NIL and not pay-for-play,' as King described Thursday. Advertisement 'This bill rewrites [the NIL] process to guarantee people in power always win and the athletes who fuel this multi-billion dollar industry always lose,' Trahan deadpanned. NCAA keeps stacking up wins over eligibility One of the issues not seriously raised Thursday: a player's eligibility, a concept that has been at the center of lawsuits from players requesting additional years of competition. In fact, as the hearing began, the NCAA got good news from a state that, lately, has become a thorn in its collective side. A Tennessee judge denied a preliminary injunction in the eligibility case brought by Vols basketball player Zakai Zeigler, who, despite exhausting his college eligibility, filed suit challenging the NCAA rules granting athletes four competition seasons over five years. Advertisement The NCAA has now won 17 of 20 injunction decisions in eligibility cases in the past year, and the organization is appealing the three it did not win. NCAA president Charlie Baker told Yahoo Sports this week that he 'believes we will win those three' on appeal. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, the argument for a college sports bill marches onward. Despite the House settlement's approval, disagreements linger and divide exists. What now? More talk, perhaps even more hearings and, maybe weeks from now, the introduction of legislation that may or may not go anywhere.
New York Times
10-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
In new bills, Congress' most direct plan yet to empower NCAA on post-House rules takes shape
With the House v. NCAA settlement now finalized and approved, a new push within Congress will attempt to turn it into law and give the NCAA and conferences more power to enforce their rules. A discussion draft of a bill obtained by The Athletic outlines an upcoming proposal in the House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce that would codify most of the federal support the NCAA has lobbied for in recent years. Although previous congressional efforts haven't gained much steam, college sports leaders hope the settlement will finally provide the spark for something to get done. The Republican-led committee would work hand-in-hand with two other House committees for a three-pronged approach this week that would do the following: A House subcommittee is scheduled to discuss the draft, dubbed the SCORE Act and sponsored by Florida Republican and subcommittee chair Gus Bilirakis, at a Thursday hearing. To support it, the House's Judiciary Committee is expected to discuss a bill for antitrust protections around these items, while the House's Education and Workforce Committee will work to codify that athletes are not employees. The Washington Post first reported on the committee drafts. Advertisement 'This discussion draft comes at a time of historic transition for college athletics,' the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC said in a joint statement to The Athletic. 'In the absence of federal standards, student-athletes and schools have been forced to navigate a fractured regulatory framework for too long. Following the historic House settlement, this draft legislation represents a very encouraging step toward delivering the national clarity and accountability that college athletics desperately needs. We urge lawmakers to build on this momentum and deliver the national solution that athletes, coaches, and schools deserve.' The main Energy and Commerce bill, if passed, would also codify several athlete protections Democrats have asked for, requiring schools to provide injury care for athletes for at least two years after graduation, catastrophic injury insurance and additional mental health services and give 'autonomous' authority to team physicians and trainers over player health and return-to-play decisions. It would also make law that schools cannot pull scholarships or aid over performance or injury. Many of these benefits are already allowed or required by the NCAA. Republican and college sports officials who spoke to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity said they hope those athlete protections are enough to get some Democrats on board. Democratic representative Lori Trahan of Massachusetts, a former Georgetown volleyball player who is on the Energy and Commerce Committee, released a statement on Saturday expressing concern that congressional action could choke off gains made by athletes. Thus far, congressional attempts on a college sports bill have not gone far, despite full Republican control of the legislative branch to streamline the process. One Democratic congressman who spoke to The Athletic questioned whether the full House would have time for the issue amid other more pressing topics. Advertisement A bipartisan group of senators led by Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have spent months working on a potential bill. President Trump has considered creating a presidential commission on college sports. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua played golf with Trump on Sunday. 'I don't think this is about drawing lines between Democrats and Republicans or the House and Senate,' Sankey said Monday. 'I think this is an opportunity for our governmental leaders, our political leaders, to come together around solutions to support our Olympic development program, to support college football and every one of our sports that flows off of that, including those that are labeled as non-revenue sports, to provide additional support for women's sports.' The finalization of the House settlement could be the inflection point for something to get done. NCAA president Charlie Baker has said that college sports needed to put together a plan to take to Congress. That has now happened. 'The big message from the federal government is you have to do everything you possibly can on your own, then come talk to us,' Baker said last September on a panel alongside Nick Saban. In a letter Baker sent to members of Congress over the weekend obtained by The Athletic, the NCAA president pointed to the House settlement as needed progress, while asking for help on establishing antitrust protections, pre-empting state laws and keeping athletes from being employees. 'The progress we've made, especially with the House settlement, represents a significant step forward,' Baker wrote. 'And, in the narrow areas where we lack the authority needed to address outstanding issues, we look forward to working with you and your staff to advance solutions that will ensure that college sports continue to provide fair opportunities to all student-athletes, for generations to come.' College sports leaders have said the House settlement wouldn't fix all their problems, that it was only a first step. Now the focus moves to accomplishing step two, convincing Congress that it's done enough to get something made into federal law.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Republicans Dodge Even Basic Questions On Medicaid Cut Plans: ‘Decisions Haven't Been Made'
House Republicans' work of making sweeping cuts to Medicaid — the social safety net program that provides health care coverage for 72 million low-income and disabled Americans — while publicly pretending they are not doing so continues this week. House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans met on Tuesday morning to try and work through their internal fight over how exactly they want to enact cuts to Medicaid. They also held firm in their commitment to publicly obscure how bad slashing the program will be for those who rely on it for health insurance. As we've reported, the committee is tasked with finding $880 billion in cuts to programs in their jurisdiction — a huge chunk of which is not just expected but almost certainly will have to come from Medicaid. Several options on how to get to Republicans' self-imposed targeted reductions in federal spending are being discussed during these meetings, but the GOP conference is seemingly at an impasse as many vulnerable Republicans oppose deep cuts to Medicaid. Most of the committee members walked out of Tuesday's closed-door meeting without saying a word. The Energy and Commerce Committee's chair, Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), was never even seen exiting the meeting, at least not through the main door, where reporters were waiting. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), a member of the committee, described the nearly two-hours long meeting as 'productive.' 'No sticking point,' he told the reporters staked out outside the room. 'Decisions haven't been made.' Energy & Commerce Republicans are expected to meet again tomorrow morning to continue discussions. Meanwhile, Democrats on the committee and staffers say they're skeptical Republicans will be able to meet their self-imposed deadline as they internally battle over the cuts to the popular program. 'I have not seen a single word of legislation,' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told TPM as she walked out of a floor vote on Tuesday. 'From the beginning, Republicans have tried to have their cake and eat it too, which is: pass a reconciliation bill that gives massive tax breaks to the richest people in this country, not blow up the deficit, and a segment of them not wanting to cut Medicaid. And that's just math. You cannot accomplish all three of those things in one bill,' Ocasio-Cortez told TPM. 'There's no way they're going to be able to do the things they want to do without cutting Medicaid. Just point, blank, period,' she added. 'And so it does put them in a bind. I think that's why we've seen the markups on Medicaid … get bumped this week because I think they're realizing that all these promises that they've made to different parts of their caucus are not reconcilable. They're just not and they're going to have to make some hard decisions that they've been avoiding this entire time.' When asked about the timeline, the New York Democrat said that even if the Republicans were able to provide the text of the legislation on time, 'I don't know how they're going to scrape together the votes, to be honest.' Thune Acknowledges Ed Martin May Be Toast Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) acknowledged what journalists have been speculating for a few weeks: that Ed Martin, Trump's nominee to serve as the head of the D.C. U.S. Attorney's office, 'probably' doesn't have the votes to get his nomination moved out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. That comes after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told reporters this week that he had communicated to the White House that he was a 'no' on Martin. Tillis has been saying as much for months, primarily due to Martin's beliefs about the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. 'I think that would suggest that he's probably not going to get out of committee,' Thune said today, referencing Tillis' 'no.' Senate Republicans hold a 12-10 majority on the panel, so Tillis voting against the nominee would leave it deadlocked 11-11 in the committee. Tillis met with Martin earlier this week to try to work out their differences — as the clock on Martin's ability to serve in an interim capacity runs out and as Democrats on the panel indicate their interest in attempting to push for a public confirmation hearing for Martin. Since taking office in an acting capacity, Martin has used his post to threaten investigations into Trump's perceived political enemies, including Democratic members of Congress. Tillis' remarks to CNN after his meeting with Martin on Monday night: Who Among Us Today on the Trump Administration Officials Are Bad At Technology beat, from Wired: Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, used the same easily cracked password for different online accounts over a period of years, according to leaked records reviewed by WIRED. LMAO Politico: Trump picks Rudy Giuliani's son for key World Cup post Andrew Giuliani, who used to assist Trump with golf, had served as a special assistant to the President and associate director of the Office of Public Liaison during Trump's first term. Perhaps this seeming demotion had something to do with his laughably unsuccessful bid for New York governor in 2021 — during which he campaigned as an outsider, citing his father's law license suspension in the state. The suspension, of course, was due to his role in trying to steal the 2020 election for Trump. Or maybe the demotion was due to how dumb this campaign video looked. He seemingly recorded in a parking lot, with the camera propped up on the back of a car. In Case You Missed It Another Judge Finds Trump Did Not Validly Invoke Alien Enemies Act Against Alleged Gang While His Admin Delights In The Culture Wars, Trump Tiptoes Around Abortion. At Least For Now. NEW this morning, from Hunter Walker: President Trump's Media Company Is Offering Movies About 'Lizard People' And Other Wild Conspiracy Theories No One Is On The Same Page On Medicaid Cuts—Including Guy Running Medicaid Agency Yesterday's Most Read Story Trump Allies Sue John Roberts To Give White House Control Of Court System What We Are Reading ICE Agents Are Targeting DC Restaurants The Company Behind the Signal Clone Mike Waltz Used Has Direct Access to User Chats
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China's AI DeepSeek faces House probe over US data harvesting, CCP propaganda
FIRST ON FOX: A powerful House Committee is demanding information from DeepSeek on what U.S. data it used to train the AI model as members accuse the company of being in the pocket of the Chinese government. In announcing a new probe into DeepSeek, House Energy and Commerce committee members penned a letter expressing concern that companies like it "harvest Americans' personal and proprietary information and introduce new data security vulnerabilities into the U.S. economy." "DeepSeek admits to sending Americans' personal information to servers in China, where it is undoubtedly accessed by officials connected to the Chinese Communist Party," Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., said in a statement. "We are concerned that this close relationship with agents having close connections to our primary adversary jeopardizes our data and our national security." The company's privacy policy states that it collects user data and stores it "in secure servers located in the People's Republic of China." That data entails all questions or chats sent to DeepSeek's AI model and the answers provided. Deepseek Fallout: Gop Sen Josh Hawley Seeks To Cut Off All Us-china Collaboration On Ai Development A growing number of states – New York, Texas and Virginia – have banned DeepSeek from government devices. Read On The Fox News App It's reminiscent of the arc of TikTok, where Chinese-owned ByteDance's video-sharing platform became widely popular in the U.S. before growing skepticism of its data-sharing with the CCP. Now, the app is banned on government devices and may soon be banned entirely in the U.S. Several countries, including Canada, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan and Italy, have already blocked DeepSeek due to security risks. South Korea in February accused DeepSeek of sharing user data with ByteDance. The letter expressed concern about how Chinese companies access U.S. technology to advance AI development. Reports have suggested that DeepSeek trained its R1 model by "distilling" outputs from American competitors. China's Deepseek Ai Startup Releases New Model In Rivalry With Openai Guthrie requested DeepSeek offer the committee a description of the types and sources of data used to train its AI models, including any U.S. proprietary or personal information, and confirm whether data collected by DeepSeek is shared with any Chinese state entity. The letter also requests details on how the AI system is trained and whether any steps are taken to influence the system output to align with the CCP's political goals. The letter requests a response by May 8. DeepSeek sent shockwaves across Silicon Valley and the rest of the U.S. as the company appears to be nearly matching the capabilities of chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT, but at a fraction of the development cost. The Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over AI and data privacy. Last year's legislation that forced TikTok to divest from ByteDance, or face a ban in the U.S., originated with the committee. Trump has extended TikTok's deadline twice, buying more time to work out a deal to keep the app operating in the U.S. In April, the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party released a report finding that DeepSeek both funneled American data to China and manipulated the results it offers to align with CCP article source: China's AI DeepSeek faces House probe over US data harvesting, CCP propaganda
Fox News
24-04-2025
- Business
- Fox News
China's AI DeepSeek faces House probe over US data harvesting, CCP propaganda
FIRST ON FOX: A powerful House Committee is demanding information from DeepSeek on what U.S. data it used to train the AI model as members accuse the company of being in the pocket of the Chinese government. In announcing a new probe into DeepSeek, House Energy and Commerce committee members penned a letter expressing concern that companies like it "harvest Americans' personal and proprietary information and introduce new data security vulnerabilities into the U.S. economy." "DeepSeek admits to sending Americans' personal information to servers in China, where it is undoubtedly accessed by officials connected to the Chinese Communist Party," Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., said in a statement. "We are concerned that this close relationship with agents having close connections to our primary adversary jeopardizes our data and our national security." The company's privacy policy states that it collects user data and stores it "in secure servers located in the People's Republic of China." That data entails all questions or chats sent to DeepSeek's AI model and the answers provided. A growing number of states – New York, Texas and Virginia – have banned DeepSeek from government devices. It's reminiscent of the arc of TikTok, where Chinese-owned ByteDance's video-sharing platform became widely popular in the U.S. before growing skepticism of its data-sharing with the CCP. Now, the app is banned on government devices and may soon be banned entirely in the U.S. Several countries, including Canada, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan and Italy, have already blocked DeepSeek due to security risks. South Korea in February accused DeepSeek of sharing user data with ByteDance. The letter expressed concern about how Chinese companies access U.S. technology to advance AI development. Reports have suggested that DeepSeek trained its R1 model by "distilling" outputs from American competitors. Guthrie requested DeepSeek offer the committee a description of the types and sources of data used to train its AI models, including any U.S. proprietary or personal information, and confirm whether data collected by DeepSeek is shared with any Chinese state entity. The letter also requests details on how the AI system is trained and whether any steps are taken to influence the system output to align with the CCP's political goals. The letter requests a response by May 8. DeepSeek sent shockwaves across Silicon Valley and the rest of the U.S. as the company appears to be nearly matching the capabilities of chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT, but at a fraction of the development cost. The Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over AI and data privacy. Last year's legislation that forced TikTok to divest from ByteDance, or face a ban in the U.S., originated with the committee. Trump has extended TikTok's deadline twice, buying more time to work out a deal to keep the app operating in the U.S. In April, the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party released a report finding that DeepSeek both funneled American data to China and manipulated the results it offers to align with CCP propaganda.
