Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, reintroduced a Senate bill on Friday to withhold federal funding from universities and colleges that fail “to stop antisemitic actions on their campuses.”
“Following Iran-backed Hamas’s attack on Israel, we saw a drastic rise in antisemitic attacks in the United States with anti-Israel mobs taking over campuses, and we’ve seen an unacceptable failure from leadership at higher education institutions to take action to condemn these mobs and protect Jewish students,” said Scott in a statement issued by his U.S. Senate office.
“Jewish students were afraid to go to class, fearful of the violence these pro-terrorist mobs threatened — that can’t happen,” Scott said.
The Republican senator's bill was announced the same day the Trump administration axed $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University.
"We’ve seen an unacceptable failure from leadership at higher education institutions to take action to condemn these mobs and protect Jewish students."Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida
The Ivy League school in New York City was at the forefront of U.S. campus protests over the war last spring. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up an encampment in April and inspired a wave of similar protests. Protesters at Columbia went on to seize a campus building, resulting in dozens of arrests when police cleared the building.
“President Trump is completely right to withhold federal funding from higher education institutions that refuse to enforce the law on their campuses and enable antisemitic hate to flourish, and I’m proud to lead this bill to build on his efforts," said Scott.
In a joint statement issue Friday with Attorney General Pam Bondi and other federal agencies, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said "universities must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding," specifically citing Columbia University.
"For too long, Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus," she said. "Today, we demonstrate to Columbia and other universities that we will not tolerate their appalling inaction any longer.”
Added Bondi: "Any university which fails to account for the discrimination of its students will not be tolerated. Comply with federal anti-discrimination laws and take action to protect students or expect consequences.”
Columbia had set up a new disciplinary committee and ramped up its own investigations of students critical of Israel, alarming free speech advocates. But Columbia’s efforts evidently didn’t go far enough.
Columbia is the first target in Trump’s campaign to cut federal money to colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war. University officials vowed to work with the Trump administration to get the funding restored.
