House drops effort to revive China Initiative

Following pushback from civil rights groups, House lawmakers withdrew language from a fiscal year 2026 spending bill that would have ordered the Justice Department to resurrect the controversial China Initiative.

State of play: The disputed text has been removed from the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies appropriations measure ahead of final passage. Last September, the House Appropriations Committee voted 34-28 to advance the fiscal 2026 package with report language instructing the DOJ to restore the program’s policies. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) defended the provision as necessary to counter Chinese technology theft. In response, a bicameral Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) letter opposing the measure garnered support from 82 groups, ultimately pressuring lawmakers to strike the language.

Why this matters: The withdrawal blocks a program criticized for profiling Asian American scientists based on ethnicity instead of concrete evidence. Originally launched in 2018 during the first Trump administration, the Justice Department shuttered the initiative in 2022 under Biden after widespread criticism and prosecutorial failures. Federal charges against Dr. Gang Chen collapsed in January 2022 after he spent 371 days in what he described as a living hell, while Dr. Anming Hu won acquittal in September 2021 when prosecutors could not demonstrate he misled NASA. More recently, Northwestern neuroscientist Dr. Jane Wu took her life in July 2024 after enduring a lengthy investigation.

Beyond individual cases, the initiative accelerated talent loss, with annual departures of Chinese-born scientists soaring from 900 in 2010 to more than 2,600 by 2021. Reviving such policies would further undercut American research competitiveness while amplifying bias amid heightened anti-Asian sentiment.

What advocates are saying: Civil rights leaders celebrated the decision as a victory for community organizing. “We are encouraged to see that Congress listened to our concerns and removed language that sought to unfairly target Chinese American and Chinese immigrant scientists, researchers, and academics under the guise of national security,” said John C. Yang of Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

Meanwhile, Stop AAPI Hate co-founder Cynthia Choi noted that “when the federal government permits and legitimizes programs rooted in racial and ethnic bias, it sends a dangerous message about who belongs in this country.” More broadly, coalition members cautioned that reinstating the initiative would discourage talented researchers from advancing U.S. scientific progress.

Advocates vowed ongoing vigilance against any attempts to reintroduce similar measures.