This proviso in effect grants them traditional tenure, but they can be dismissed by the Congress. Senior partners in some law firms have the equivalent of traditional tenure. So to target traditional academic tenure as conferring something unique and now disquieting is grossly misleading. New tenure proponents seem to equate free speech and academic freedom. This is their most fatal fallacy.
Academic freedom is more than free speech.
Traditional academic tenure provides an appropriate level of protection against reprisals, including dismissal for political reasons that may sometimes be fueled by discrimination. A crucial element in providing that protection pivots on where the burden of proof in any dismissal case now rests. It resides, as noted, with the institution, not thefaculty person. This reversal destroys the bedrock of academic freedom. And without academic freedom there can be no real university.