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WASHINGTON: The federal office that enforces civil rights at schools across the US has been ordered to target complaints of antisemitism above all else as it molds to President Donald Trump’s agenda, raising fears that other rights violations will go unpunished.
Trump’s new leader of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights told staff this week they will be expected to aggressively pursue complaints involving antisemitism and hew closely to Trump’s wishes, according to sources who were on the call with Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
Already there are signs of a hard turn on civil rights enforcement, including new actions focused squarely on anti-Jewish bias and transgender issues.
Responding to a White House order last week, the office launched new antisemitism investigations at five universities including Columbia and Northwestern. Days earlier, it opened an inquiry into Denver public schools over an all-gender bathroom that replaced a girls’ bathroom while leaving another one exclusive to boys.
The office’s fleet of lawyers have mostly been sidelined while the new administration shifts priorities. Daily work has been frozen, which is typical when a new president takes office, but sources say there’s a new blackout on communication with schools, colleges or those submitting complaints. Questions about how to enforce Title IX go unanswered, leaving schools in the dark as they navigate a new memo from the agency last week.
The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
In the staff call, Trainor said the office must be more aggressive and faster than it was under former President Joe Biden. He accused the previous administration of neglecting its duty to fight antisemitism, leaving more than 100 cases open. Trump has called for a review of all antisemitism cases opened since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, including those resolved under Biden.
With a rigid focus on antisemitism and gender identity, there’s fear the office won’t give adequate attention to racial discrimination, mistreatment based on disability, or Islamophobia. The office is required to process all complaints it fields, but politics can play a role in setting priorities and choosing which cases to pursue.
Raymond Pierce, who led the office under Democratic President Bill Clinton, said focusing on antisemitism alone doesn’t fulfill the mission of the office — to enforce civil rights laws.
“Antisemitism is an issue,” he said. “But the Civil Rights Act is broader than just religion.”
In a statement, Trainor promised his office “will vigorously investigate all alleged violations of civil rights laws within its purview.”
Trainor had also warned staff of a coming “restructuring” and acknowledged that Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency is examining the Education Department. It raised worries about staffing cuts in a civil rights office that has seen dwindling numbers even as it received a record 22,687 complaints last year.
Additionally, there’s concern Trump in his quest to shut down the Education Department will slash the office’s budget and move it to the Justice Department, as suggested in the Project 2025 blueprint created by the conservative Heritage Foundation.
The impact of Trump’s changes are most likely to be felt by Black students and those who are disabled, according to lawyers and advocates. For decades, the Office for Civil Rights has worked to force equal access for marginalized students, said Derek W. Black, a law professor at the University of South Carolina.
If the office finds merit in a complaint, it has the power to withhold federal funding until schools or states comply.
“Are there local and state officials who want to do right by kids? Of course, there are,” Black said. “But are there districts that don’t think it’s a big deal or don’t want to do right by poor kids? Unfortunately, there are.”
Historically, most complaints to the department have involved disability discrimination, but last year accusations of sex discrimination surged to account for more than half of all complaints, according to an annual report. Disability discrimination accounted for 37 percent, while discrimination over race or national origin accounted for 19 percent.
In addition to its duty to investigate complaints, the office creates federal rules to interpret federal law for schools and colleges. That role has been at the center of a political tug-of-war over Title IX, with recent administrations repeatedly rewriting the rules governing investigations of campus sexual misconduct.
The Biden administration issued new rules last year expanding Title IX to protect transgender and LGBTQ+ students, and boosting victims’ rights. A federal judge overturned the rules in January, reverting to a previous set of rules from Trump’s first term.
In a memo to schools and colleges last week, the Office for Civil Rights emphasized that the earlier Trump rules would be enforced, but it created confusion about how to handle cases that were opened when Biden’s rules were in effect. With no communication from the department, there has been little clarity for schools.
There are also questions about how antisemitism investigations will change. Trump has used heated rhetoric to push for more aggressive action against colleges found to have tolerated antisemitism, and Trainor blasted the Biden administration for signing “toothless” agreements to resolve cases. No new guidance has been issued to lawyers who investigate cases.
As the office awaits orders to resume its work, it faces a growing backlog of complaints.
Before Trump took office, there were more than 140 open investigations involving shared ancestry, many of them dealing with antisemitism or Islamophobia. The Biden administration opened more than 100 investigations after Oct. 7, 2023. A flurry of schools reached deals to settle the cases before Trump took office amid fears that he would issue heavier sanctions.