US Commission on Civil Rights opens sweeping investigation into antisemitism

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, chaired by Democrat Garza, investigates Trump's aggressive antisemitism crackdowns on college campuses. The commission, which includes four Democrats, three Republicans and an Independent, unanimously voted to begin the investigation in January before Trump's inauguration, the probe demands all Title VI communications on antisemitic or ancestry-based conduct from about a dozen schools, including Columbia and the University of Minnesota.

Starting from the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, the investigation goes back to the Biden admin and also scrutinizes Trump's executive order targeting campus protests as potential antisemitism. His administration threatened to cut billions in federal funding, compelling universities to sign agreements that experts say undermine their autonomy, eroding private institutions’ traditional independence.

Trump restructured federal civil rights oversight, dismantling the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division shifted focus to gun rights and anti-transgender policies, losing nearly 400 employees. A White House official stated, “Members of the commission have been blocking [Kirsanow’s] appointment from being confirmed and preventing the president’s agenda from being implemented.”

The commission, independent since the 1957 Civil Rights Act, resists executive control. Democratic commissioner Jones clarified, “This investigation by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is separate and apart from any of the actions in the name of combating antisemitism that the Trump administration has undertaken.”

Former official Wharton accused the commission of seeking “confidential communications between the universities and the Department of Justice and the Department of Education which I think is unprecedented.”

Public hearings are planned for November, with a report expected in a year.