United States Research Protection Act of 2025

The United States Research Protection Act of 2025 is a technical amendment to the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act. It focuses on clarifying the definition of “foreign country” for the purposes of the law’s malign foreign talent recruitment restrictions. Key changes include adding the modifier “of concern” to the term in relevant places, expanding the definitional language to cover any program, position, or activity (not just specific categories), removing a subparagraph, reorganizing the enumerated provisions, and ensuring that restrictions apply to actions whether they are provided directly or indirectly. The overall effect is to narrow ambiguity and broaden the scope of activities that could be restricted under malign foreign talent recruitment provisions, without creating new programs or funding.