Complaining about professors from China, Europe and “supposed Palestine,” the Republican governor called for his state’s public universities to end the use of the visa program. A union leader called his comments a “xenophobic and nativist diatribe.

Although Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House, the filibuster rule in the U.S. Senate effectively means 60 votes are needed to pass substantive legislation. The GOP advantage over Democrats in the Senate is only 53-45, with two independents who vote with Democrats.