Trump Pushes Senate’s Bipartisan College-Sports Bill

President Donald Trump is actively lobbying senators to pass the Senate’s bipartisan college-sports legislation. Over the past week he has urged lawmakers to support the bill and enlisted former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, along with New York Yankees President Randy Levine and other sports executives, to persuade undecided members of the chamber.

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The bill aims to establish a national framework for college-athletic agreements after recent legal disputes disrupted the system. It does not resolve the broader question of whether student-athletes should be classified as employees. The legislation emerged from negotiations led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA). If enacted, it could become a signature bipartisan achievement of the current Congress and a notable legislative win for Trump in his second term.

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Sen. Eric Schmitt told Semafor that Trump “actually cares about it” and “knows college sports.” A White House official explained that Trump views the bill as a “substantial policy objective” that would improve pathways to success for young people while “reducing economic and competitive pressures” on college athletes. The same official noted that the bill’s passage now hinges on a Senate vote scheduled for mid-September after the chamber recessed for the August break.

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• “He understands that this is something that needs to get fixed, and he’s glad it’s bipartisan. I think he understands that’s how it has to be,” — Sen. Eric Schmitt

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