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The proposed SCORE Act promises to provide the NCAA with a limited antitrust exemption in hopes of protecting the organization that regulates student athletics from potential lawsuits over eligibility rules, and it would prohibit athletes from becoming employees of their schools.
Shortly before it was set to be brought to the floor on Wednesday, House leadership canceled a vote on the SCORE Act. The decision came amid concerns about whether Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., had secured the required votes for passage.
Following the delay, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., voiced his concerns about the chaotic events leading up to what ultimately became a failed effort to move the bill forward.
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U.S. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The question that a lot of people are asking this week related to the SCORE Act legislation is who exactly directed Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise to bring this bill to the floor this week? Was it the big donors connected to LSU? That legislation would not have benefited college athletes. It would hurt college athletes, take away the antitrust exemption. It would preempt the ability of states to actually pass legislation that promotes the health, the safety and the well-being of their own college students.”
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Jeffries continued: “It would take away legal rights to seek redress the organized labor unions across the country were strongly opposed because it undermined the ability of college athletes and undermined their freedom to negotiate, took away collective bargaining rights. And of course, the players’ associations across every sports league led by the NFL Players Association were opposed to it because they concluded, when evaluating the bill on the merits, that it would actually hurt college athletes, not help them.”
Jeffries then facetiously renamed the SCORE Act to the “Lane Kiffin Protection Act.”
Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin speaks to the media during SEC Media Day at Omni Atlanta Hotel on July 14, 2025. (Jordan Godfree/Imagn Images)
“Why would Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise think it was a good idea to bring the Lane Kiffin Protection Act to the floor of the House of Representatives? Legislation that would do nothing to benefit college athletes and everything to benefit coaches like Lane Kiffin, who got out of town, abandoned his players in the middle of a playoff run to go get a $100 million contract from LSU, the home state of Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise.”
(L-R) Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), participate in the first nail ceremony for the construction of the 2025 presidential inauguration platform on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Building on Sept. 18, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“People are asking the question, why did you decide to bring this bill this week with all the other issues that the country is demanding that we focus on, led by the affordability crisis that they claim is a scam and a hoax, but that the American people know is very real.”
A narrow 210-209 procedural vote was enough to get the bill to the House.
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The SCORE Act calls on schools to share revenue, per terms of the House settlement, per terms of the House settlement to the tune of 22% “if such rules provide that such pool limit is AT LEAST 22 percent of the average annual college sports revenue of the 70 highest-earning schools.”
The bill would also prohibit schools from using student fees to fund NIL payments.
Proponents of the proposed legislation have argued the SCORE Act would introduce some stability to college sports amid a landscape that increasingly lacks adequate regulation. However, critics have pointed to the possibility of returning arguably too much power back to schools and the NCAA.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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Chantz Martin is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.