House GOP leaders are pulling a long-stalled college athletics bill from a planned House vote for a second time after they failed to secure the required votes, according to two people granted anonymity to describe internal deliberations.
The SCORE Act, if enacted, would reshape oversight of college athletics in the “name, image and likeness” era of student-athlete compensation. But a pocket of GOP opposition has imperiled the bill, even after Republican leaders negotiated alterations with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and others.
Last week, Republicans on the leadership whip team privately acknowledged the bill was in trouble as Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and others remained skeptical of the entire effort.
Speaker Mike Johnson, who would need near GOP unanimity to pass a procedural measure teeing up the bill for a final vote, said in an interview Friday he would talk to Perry and others but remained confident he could get the legislation across the finish line.
While Democrats were never expected to support that procedural step, the Congressional Black Caucus dealt a significant blow to the overall legislation Monday when the influential Democratic group came out against the bill, threatening any semblance of bipartisanship.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has scheduled a Tuesday news conference with NAACP President Derrick Johnson to rail against the legislation.
The two people familiar with the decision to pull the bill said it was a result of both the CBC move and continued opposition from Perry and Donalds, who is running for governor of Florida.
