Trump guts Department of Education, slashing office handling antisemitism complaints

Acting on decades of Republican ambitions, the Trump administration is dramatically scaling back the federal education department, including its civil rights office — which has gone into high gear addressing antisemitism allegations at colleges and public schools.

Staffing at the Office of Civil Rights, which handles complaints filed under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, is among the casualties of the administration’s mass firings. According to Chalkbeat, an education news site, half of the 12 regional civil rights offices are being eliminated. The New York Times reports that only “a skeleton crew” remains in major offices in New York City, Boston and San Francisco.

The Office of Civil Rights handles discrimination claims against schools and has been a central source of recourse for Jewish and pro-Israel students who believed their rights were infringed upon by pro-Palestinian campus protests since October 7, 2023.

The office has opened dozens of Israel-related civil rights investigations since then, including several since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, amid vows by both the Biden and Trump administrations to protect Jewish students on campus.

Just this week, the office sent letters to 60 colleges and universities warning them that they could face consequences if they did not fulfill their responsibility to protect Jewish students.