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Committee Questions Education Secretary as Department Withholds University Funds, Cites Title VI Investigations
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Summary
Secretary Linda McMahon said the department has withheld funding from Columbia and Harvard and is investigating roughly 60 universities under Title VI for alleged civil‑rights violations tied to antisemitic incidents on campuses. Committee members pressed for the legal basis, reporting requirements and evidence supporting those actions.
Secretary Linda McMahon told the House Committee on Education and Workforce that the Education Department has taken steps against some universities in response to allegations of antisemitic incidents on campuses and that the department is pursuing investigations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
"So we've held back funding, from Columbia. We've also done the same thing with Harvard," McMahon said, adding that the department had opened or was considering investigations of about 60 other universities for potential civil‑rights violations.
McMahon said the department had characterized some campus conduct as Title VI violations and that withholding or conditioning funding was part of the department's enforcement tools. Committee members from both parties asked how Title VI investigations were being conducted, what documentation the department had submitted to Congress and whether the department had complied with statutory notice requirements before taking funding actions.
Ranking Member Bobby Scott and other Democrats repeatedly pressed McMahon for documentation of the enforcement steps and cautioned that any withdrawal or conditionality of federal funds must follow statutory procedures. Scott also raised concerns about the department's overall ability to carry out enforcement with reduced staffing.
Chairman Tim Wahlberg and several Republicans framed the department's actions as putting "teeth" behind civil‑rights enforcement after what they described as prior administrations' "toothless" approaches to campus antisemitism.
Members probed the department's legal basis for treating campus protest or speech as Title VI violations in specific cases, and asked whether the department had complied with a statutory requirement to notify congressional committees before taking funding termination or suspension actions under Title VI. McMahon said the department was approaching investigations and funding actions on a case‑by‑case basis and that it had sought engagement with the universities involved, and in some cases faced litigation.
The hearing did not produce final decisions on the pending investigations. Committee members asked the department to provide the committee with written reports, documentation of Title VI referrals and a timeline for any proposed funding actions.
