Education secretary makes a case for more money to curb campus unrest

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona condemned violent school demonstrations and urged lawmakers for increased civil rights dollars to address campus antisemitism at a wide ranging Tuesday oversight hearing on the Education Department’s policies and priorities.

But before he could fully lay out his case for more money, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) shared that she's been unimpressed with Cardona's response to campus unrest across the nation and used the hearing to once again press him to step down.

“From the beginning, I’ve urged a firm hand in dealing with the explosion of antisemitism on campus,” Foxx said in her opening remarks. “With the outbreak of campus riots, I am only more resolute, so I will say it again: you must resign.”

Cardona underscored in his opening testimony that he wasn’t appearing before Congress to “create a spectacle” but to instead seek support for his department's budget. Tuesday's appearance before the House education committee is his third before Congress in four weeks.

“My purpose here today is to propose a budget that can help protect and support our nation’s students,” Cardona said. “It’s not to create a spectacle for the benefit of the media or to promote divisions that inflame culture wars and political sideshows that do nothing to help our young people succeed.”

The Education Department is asking for $162 million — a $22 million increase — for its civil rights arm, which the department says would largely help the Office for Civil Rights investigate the increase in Title VI complaints that the agency is receiving. Ninety percent of the money the department is requesting for OCR would be used for hiring more staff, which Cardona says would allow the department to lessen the average caseload for officials.

“Antisemitism is discrimination and is prohibited by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Cardona said. “Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the right of others so students can finish their semester and their college education.”

Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) and Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) implored committee Republicans to support an increase in funding for the department’s civil rights arm.

“We have to stop admiring the problem and actually invest the resources to address it,” Hayes said, asking whether flat funding for OCR impacts the department’s ability to address complaints in a timely manner.

Cardona told Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) that it’s “hard to get an average” on how long it takes to conclude Title VI cases on shared ancestry but gave an estimate of six to eight months. The Office for Civil Rights has closed two cases around antisemitism, Cardona said. The department has over 100 open Title VI investigations on ancestry based discrimination.

Put simply, Cardona said later in the hearing that the increase in civil rights dollars would go to “investigators to investigate these open cases.”

Cardona also said he was prepared to strip colleges of their federal funds for violating Title VI, after Manning questioned what actions would cross the line and give the department cause for pulling an institution’s dollars.

“It is the last step," Cardona said. "The goal is to change behaviors and make the campus safe for all students and address the underlying issues that led to the report.”

Title IX and FAFSA: Cardona also defended his department's final rule for Title IX, which would cement discrimination protections, including for pregnant students and transgender or nonbinary students. The new rule was released in April, and at least five Republican state officials have urged school districts to disregard the regulation.

"Federal rules trump state rules and it’s unacceptable for leaders to pick and choose which students they choose to protect," Cardona said.

He also addressed a barrage of questions about the disastrous launch of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which has been marred with data errors and technical problems since its December 2023 release. Congress passed legislation to simplify the form in December 2020.

“I apologize to the students and families that have had to deal with delays,” Cardona said.

He later stated that there will be accountability for how the form was launched.

“It’s concerning to us that there were delays and, yes, there will be opportunities not only for accountability but the structure to make sure that this doesn’t happen again," the cabinet official said.

The secretary’s remarks come as Foxx and ranking member Bobby Scott (D-Va.) joined a bipartisan group of House and Senate appropriations and education committee leaders in pressing for a “smooth” application cycle this fall in a letter sent to the secretary on Monday.

Completions of the FAFSA is at 60 to 70 percent, shy of the 95 percent submission rate that the Education Department wants, Cardona said, later adding that the department has processed over 9 million applications.

The Educational Credit Management Corporation, a nonprofit student loan guaranty agency that partners with the department, has been charged with overseeing up to $50 million in grants to support state, local and community organizations that focus on college access and enrollment.