Johnson to kick off wide-ranging House probe on college campus antisemitism

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is preparing to announce a wide-ranging investigation into antisemitism on college campuses that spans multiple House committees.

Multiple sources told Fox News Digital that at least six committees would be involved in the probe: the committees on Education & the Workforce, Energy & Commerce, Oversight, the Judiciary, Ways & Means and the committee on Science, Space & Technology. 

The probe is a widening of the ongoing investigation into antisemitism on college campuses that’s being led by the Education & Workforce Committee.

Two sources familiar with planning stressed to Fox News Digital that the committee’s roles are still mostly fluid and that the investigation is necessarily broad because each have some kind of jurisdiction in the matter.

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Speaker Mike Johnson spoke at Columbia University last week amid the protests (Getty Images)

Johnson is expected to hold a press conference with those committee chairs on Tuesday afternoon to unveil the probe. He spoke out forcefully against the demonstrations last week during a visit to Columbia University where he also privately met with Jewish students who have said they feel unsafe on campus.

It comes as college campuses around the country are seeing a wave of anti-Israel demonstrations that sparked when Columbia University students and those at their sister school, Barnard College, were arrested for setting up an encampment on the Manhattan Ivy League’s grounds. The protests, done in opposition to Columbia’s investments in companies with Israeli ties, have continued since then.

The two sources who spoke with Fox News Digital said Columbia is likely to play a significant role, but stressed the investigation would look into any universities getting federal funds. 

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Students march on Columbia University campus in support of a protest encampment supporting Palestinians. (REUTERS/David Dee Delgado)

And while the committees’ roles are fluid, the sources explained that there are some aspects broadly tailored to different panels’ jurisdictions – the Judiciary Committee’s portion, for example, would include looking at existing anti-discrimination laws, they said.

The Oversight Committee will, in part, be looking into who is funding the protests, a third source said.

A fourth source familiar with planning said the Ways & Means Committee will be examining the tax benefits these universities receive, and what they are doing to justify the tax benefits they’re afforded under the current U.S. tax code.

During his visit to Columbia last week, Johnson denounced the protesters as a “mob” and specifically denounced professors and other faculty who had joined the protests.

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Johnson met with Jewish students before public remarks condemning the anti-Israel protests. (Fox News Digital)

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“The college campus used to be the place for respectful debate, for the differences of opinion in the free marketplace of ideas to be discussed. That is not what is happening here,” Johnson said. “You are intimidating and shouting down people you disagree with.”

In a press release announcing his Tuesday public remarks, Johnson said, “House Republicans, with leadership from committees of jurisdiction, will expand a wide-ranging investigation focused on holding accountable college and university administrators who fail at their core responsibility: keeping their students safe.”