The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed funding bill for the Department of Education includes sweeping new provisions cutting off funding for colleges and universities that fail to address campus antisemitism, but would also cut $49 million in funding for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in 2026.

New language included in the bill states that no federal funding may be provided to institutions of higher education “unless and until such institution adopts a prohibition on antisemitic conduct that creates a hostile environment in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in all documents relating to student or employee conduct.”

The bill also bans funding to schools that have “failed to take administrative action against any student, staff member, or student group that commits acts of antisemitism while utilizing the facilities, grounds, or resources of such institution.”

The former provision would require schools to specifically implement anti-discrimination policies regarding antisemitism as a precondition of federal funding, while the latter could give the Department of Education additional latitude to cut funding to schools that have allowed antisemitic conduct to go unaddressed or unpunished.

At the same time, the bill would provide $91 million in funding for the Office for Civil Rights, down from $140 million provided in several previous years. The Trump administration, in its budget request to Congress, requested the same cut, as it looks to slash the size of the Department of Education while winding down the department.

The Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Programs voted along party lines to advance the bill to the full committee on Tuesday evening.

The funding proposal sets up a clash with the Senate, which proposed consistent funding at $140 million for the office in its own appropriations legislation, which the Senate Appropriations Committee passed at the end of July. The Senate bill does not include the new language relating to antisemitism.

A large coalition of Jewish community groups across the ideological spectrum previously urged the “highest possible funding” for the Office for Civil Rights, though others in the Jewish community have argued that the office does not require additional funding, instead needing only to better-prioritize resolving antisemitism cases.

House Democrats have frequently pointed to Republicans’ efforts to cut funding for the office as evidence that Republicans are not serious about confronting campus antisemitism. Key Republicans expressed support for the Trump administration’s proposal to cut funding for the office earlier this year.

“The Office for Civil Rights is on the front lines of the fight against rising antisemitism at universities and K-12 schools. It’s absurd to cut their budget when complaints are at an all-time high,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) said in a statement to Jewish Insider. “Republicans have no interest in the hard work of enforcing protections for Jewish students on campus.”

Lauren Wolman, the senior director of government relations and strategy for the Anti-Defamation League, expressed support for the new provisions on campus antisemitism while warning about the OCR cuts.

“We appreciate the committee’s focus on the crisis of antisemitism in education and commitment to ensuring there are consequences when antisemitism occurs. The Appropriations Committee underscores this point forcefully and urgently,” Wolman said. “But if Congress simultaneously defunds the very office charged with investigating and enforcing Title VI, those consequences may never be realized. Jewish students need real accountability, backed by resources, enforcement, and monitoring.”

A spokesperson for the Jewish Federations of North America said, “This is the first step in a long process of appropriations, and we look forward to working with Congress to ensure that OCR has the resources necessary to effectively fulfill its mission.”