The Senate on Monday approved a sweeping bipartisan bill to regulate college sports, marking the strongest congressional effort yet to bring order to an industry transformed by soaring athlete compensation and largely unrestricted transfers between schools.

The legislation passed 77-22 and would establish nationwide rules for payments tied to college athletes’ name, image and likeness, as well as limits on how frequently they may transfer. It would also grant the NCAA greater authority to enforce those rules, along with limited antitrust protections.

The measure follows years of negotiations in the Senate, which accelerated after a 2025 lawsuit settlement reshaped college sports by permitting schools to pay their players directly.

It would write that settlement into federal law while adding new restrictions aimed at controlling the rapidly rising costs facing colleges.

“It would be nice if college sports could somehow magically fix itself, but this is a matter of law, federal law, and only Congress can fix it,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz. He negotiated the bill with the panel’s top Democrat, Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell.

More than 70 senators from both parties support the legislation, saying it would reduce the constant litigation and uncertainty affecting athletes, schools and fans. The bill would also extend new health and labor protections to hundreds of thousands of student-athletes.

Opponents argue that the measure does not go far enough to protect athletes or address the vast sums flowing to coaches, colleges and conferences.

“This is a bill that essentially ensconces a system of exploitation, and it doesn’t fix the broader problems,” said Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat who has worked with labor and civil rights organizations to oppose the legislation.

The bill’s path forward remains uncertain.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced interest in the legislation, and the White House formally backed it last month. However, the bill could encounter strong resistance in the House, which failed several times over the past year to bring a different proposal to the floor. The chamber is also in recess until after the November elections.

If both chambers do not approve the measure by the end of the year, lawmakers will have to begin the process again in the next Congress.

College sports have been unsettled since the 2025 court settlement allowed schools to pay players directly for their name, image and likeness. The changes have reshaped the industry, with football roster payrolls now exceeding $40 million in some cases.

The bill would codify the settlement’s provisions, including a revenue-sharing ceiling that permits schools to distribute up to $21.5 million to athletes. It would more than double that figure for some schools by allowing as much as $27.5 million in additional payments through a retention fund. That provision helped secure support from the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference, the two largest conferences.

Schools and conferences would also be allowed to pool their television media rights as they seek to generate additional revenue.

The legislation would also seek to bring stability to the NCAA transfer portal, where players have frequently changed teams. Under the proposal, athletes would receive one “free” transfer during a five-year period without having to sit out a season, subject to some exceptions. Players would also be limited to five years of total eligibility.

The eligibility cap follows criticism of schools accused of pushing the boundaries, including LSU’s abandoned plan to add players to its roster who had taken part in NFL training camps.

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“That was probably like a big lamp for some people who saw it and said, ‘Oh my God, this is so out of control,’” Cantwell said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

The bill would bar coaches from leaving their schools during the season, require schools changing conferences to spend three years as independents and prohibit conferences from expanding beyond 20 programs. The provisions are intended to prevent so-called “superleagues” from dominating college sports.

A last-minute amendment proposed by Florida Sen. Ashley Moody raised that cap from 19 in the original legislation.

The vote was delayed several hours on Monday as senators negotiated Moody’s amendment and others that were eventually adopted, including provisions to make it easier for athletes to sue over sexual assault and a requirement to disclose foreign financing.

The Senate rejected an amendment by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., that would have put limits on ticket prices for fans and two by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., that would have capped coaches’ salaries at $5 million a year and increased compensation for athletes who have catastrophic injuries.

The legislation includes new protections for athletes, including caps on agent fees and guarantees for health insurance and scholarships. 

It would also require schools to maintain a minimum number of sports and roster spots – an effort to ensure that women’s and Olympic sports are not cut in favor of football, basketball and other sports that generate more revenue.

Still, some Democrats say it wouldn’t do enough to limit the big money in college sports.

The legislation ‘places a cap on the students´ cut of the revenues, but there are no caps on coaches´ salaries or on the size of donations to athletic programs,’ Murphy said last week.

Groups like the NAACP, Congressional Black Caucus and AFL-CIO have also opposed the bill, in part, because it leaves unresolved whether athletes should be considered employees with the ability to collectively bargain.

All four Black Democrats in the Senate – Booker, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland – have opposed the bill.

Booker, who played football at Stanford in the late 1980s on a scholarship, noted the ‘outsized role’ that Black athletes play in college sports. He said it wasn’t until college athletes were able to begin to win cases in court that the power started to shift, ‘and now the NCAA is coming here to the United States Senate, asking for sweeping powers’ to exempt antitrust laws.

‘We know who this bill is protecting,’ Booker said.

Despite strong bipartisan support in the Senate, the bill faces a murky path in the House.

House lawmakers won’t return to Washington until mid-November, after the elections. And it’s unclear what will be on Republican leaders’ agenda in the chaotic last few weeks of the session.

Pressure from Trump could help push the bill to passage. But some House Republicans have insisted on language explicitly stating that athletes are not employees, which the Senate bill does not have – a key concession to Cantwell to win enough Democratic support.

Jonathan McKinsey, a transgender New York Times executive who was allegedly killed in broad daylight at a Bay Area parking lot, had previously threatened to kill his wife and her parents, according to court documents.

McKinsey, 40, was fatally shot Saturday afternoon at Dublin Sports Grounds in Dublin, California. Witnesses said Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, took turns firing at him in the parking lot.

“During our marriage, the children and I learned to avoid provoking Jonathan lest he became angry. In my experience, appearing agreeable or happy around him was sometimes a means of avoiding his anger,” McKinsey’s wife, Candice Jang, wrote in an August custody filing obtained by the California Post. The filing was first reported by The Mercury News.

Jang and McKinsey married in 2010, though she filed for divorce in 2025 after alleging that he had abused her and one of their young sons.

Jang also claimed that McKinsey had recently given their three children a book about a mother’s death.

“Jonathan dismisses my concern about a book he provided to the children concerning the death of a mother. He omits the context that makes the conduct frightening to me. Jonathan has previously threatened to kill me and my parents,” Jang wrote in the court documents.

According to Jang, the 40-year-old newspaper executive gave the children a book about a young girl “mourning the death of her mother, as a birthday present.” She said the choice was “deeply disturbing and frightening” because of his alleged previous threats against her life.

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Jang further alleged that McKinsey routinely blamed others for problems instead of accepting responsibility.

McKinsey and Jang were embroiled in a contentious custody dispute involving their three children, ages 3, 5 and 7. McKinsey was accused of abusing Jang and the children.

Jang sought a restraining order against McKinsey in 2025. He responded by seeking a restraining order against her that same year.

McKinsey was charged with two misdemeanor counts of child abuse in connection with the allegations. He was later released from jail on the condition that he complete parenting classes.

In a subsequent court filing, Jang updated the court on the custody dispute and challenged what she described as false testimony from her husband.

McKinsey transitioned from female to male in 2010 and married Jang in 2011, according to the report. The estranged couple had been scheduled to appear in court over custody issues this Friday, before the shooting occurred.

McKinsey joined The New York Times in early 2023 as a senior engineering manager overseeing its games platform. He became director of engineering for games player experience in late 2025.

Police are examining the family conflict as a possible motive in the shocking shooting, in which both members of the elderly couple allegedly opened fire on McKinsey.

A traffic stop on a Kentucky interstate ended in tragedy Monday after a state trooper was shot and killed, triggering a statewide manhunt that concluded with a suspect’s arrest.

Trooper Hayden Phillips, 30, was killed on Interstate 65 in Warren County. He is survived by his wife and three young sons.

“He was senselessly murdered,” U.S. Attorney Kyle Bumgarner said during a news conference Monday night. “We have a wife that expected her husband to come home. We have three little boys who don’t have a dad.”

Phillips had served with the Kentucky State Police for three years and was assigned to Post 3 in Bowling Green. He graduated with Cadet Class 103 and was known among fellow troopers as Unit 369.

“Because he served us, because he served our community, because he wanted to keep each of us safe,” Bumgarner said. “He gave the ultimate sacrifice.”

Kentucky State Police Commissioner Col. Phillip Burnett Jr. vowed that the agency would pursue justice in Phillips’ death.

“We will seek justice for Hayden,” Burnett said. “Let me repeat that, we will seek justice for Hayden. We will not rest until this happens.”

Burnett described Phillips’ death as one of the most difficult moments the Kentucky State Police could face.

“His dedication to duty and commitment to the Commonwealth will never be forgotten,” Burnett said. “Our hearts break for Trooper Phillips’ family, loved ones, and fellow troopers as we grieve this tremendous loss.”

Kentucky State Police initially reported a trooper-involved shooting on northbound I-65 near the 38-mile marker. Investigators then urged the public to watch for a bluish-gray Honda Civic with an Alabama license plate that had been at the scene. A Blue Alert named Emonnie Branch as the wanted person.

Louisville Metro Police later arrested Branch, prompting state police to cancel the alert. Burnett said Branch was being charged with the murder of a first responder. Bumgarner said Branch would be returned to Warren County to face state murder charges.

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“I want you to know I only mentioned his name one time,” Burnett said while denouncing what he described as the suspect’s “cowardly actions.”

Authorities have not disclosed why Phillips stopped the vehicle or whether Branch had a prior criminal record.

“One of our own was gunned down and murdered on the side of the road,” Bumgarner said. He promised that the Justice Department would provide Kentucky prosecutors and investigators with “every tool” and “every bit of support” available.

Burnett also spoke directly to Phillips’ family, assuring them that Kentucky State Police would support them.

“You will not walk this path alone,” he said.

“Rest Easy U/369. We have it from here,” state police wrote in a tribute to Phillips.

Gov. Andy Beshear called Phillips a hero who dedicated himself to protecting Kentucky. He said the trooper was also “a devoted husband and loving father to three children.”

“Let us wrap our arms around this family during this unimaginable time,” the governor wrote.

Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., thanked law enforcement for its swift work and said Phillips’ wife, their three young children and his colleagues were in his prayers. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., urged people to pray for Phillips’ family and fellow officers.

Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., also offered prayers for Phillips’ family and said Kentucky would not forget his service.

“Alongside his fellow KSP troopers and all who knew and loved him, we will not forget his service to our commonwealth,” McGarvey wrote.

Country singer Lee Greenwood mourned Phillips, writing that he and his wife, Kim, had learned of the trooper’s death and would “always stand with the men and women in blue.”