Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have announced plans to increase federal scrutiny as a result of the aggressive antisemitic environment that has emerged at universities across the country since Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks against Israel.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) spoke at a press conference on Tuesday alongside other top Republican leaders. He said that a “House-wide effort to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses” had begun and that “nearly every committee here has a role to play in these efforts to stop the madness that has ensued.”
Representatives intend to review federal funding at certain schools, their foreign student visa programs and the range of tax benefits received by academic institutions.
The Education and Workforce Committee, chaired by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), will help lead the efforts.
“No stone must go unturned while buildings are being defaced. Campus greens are being captured, or graduations are being ruined,” she said. “College is not a park for play-acting juveniles or a battleground for radical activists. Everyone affiliated with these universities will receive a healthy dose of reality. Actions have consequences.”
Johnson described antisemitism as “a virus” and that “because the administration and woke university presidents aren’t stepping in, we’re seeing it spread.”
He added that “the federal government plays a critical role in higher education, and we will use all the tools available to us to address this scourge.”
