Republicans push to 'defund' Harvard, other colleges that 'promote antisemitism'

Republicans push to 'defund' Harvard, other colleges that 'promote antisemitism'

A Republican-led effort to strip Harvard and other higher education institutions of federal funding is gaining steam, as calls grow in Congress to "defund" any institutions that allow antisemitism on campus. 

Less than two weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, a group of GOP senators, led by Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), introduced legislation that would rescind federal education funding for colleges and universities that allow "violent antisemitism," pointing directly to Harvard's silence at the time after more than 30 student organizations at the school blamed Israel for Hamas's attack on its civilians.

Now, following Harvard President Claudine Gay's and other Ivy League presidents' disastrous testimony before the House, lawmakers in the lower chamber are launching their own efforts to prevent tax dollars from going to institutions that allow antisemitism.