Collin Binkley reports for the Associated Press and notes that the Trump administration is still going after higher education.
Through regulation, the administration is going after many of the targets it hammered with investigations — diversity, equity and inclusion policies, transgender athletes, antisemitism and a variety of practices perceived as anti-white discrimination.
One new rule being proposed by the Education Department would overhaul the system that decides which colleges can receive federal money, known as the accreditation process. Among other changes, the proposal would require accreditors to make sure colleges have “intellectual diversity,” a veiled call for more conservative voices.
Many people in higher education are alarmed by a proposal from the Office of Management and Budget that would order agencies to ensure federal grants “advance the President’s policy priorities.” Trump officials would verify that grants aren’t used to promote DEI, “anti-American values” or anything denying “the sex binary in humans,” according to the proposal issued last week. An OMB spokesperson said the rule aims to promote transparency.
Another proposal from the General Services Administration would require federal grant recipients, including universities and their contractors, to certify they don’t have DEI policies deemed unlawful by the administration.
At least 11 new rules have been proposed at the Education Department, including one aimed at “streamlining the process” to cut money for schools that violate the Trump administration’s interpretation of civil rights law.
Making federal rules can take months of debate in humdrum bureaucratic processes. But unlike earlier strategies that tested the limits of White House power, the rulemaking process is a widely accepted route to establish federal policy into law — without needing to go through Congress.
Read the full article for more details on this disturbing development.