The Department of Education has taken significant action behind the scenes to combat rising antisemitism on campuses, Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) told Jewish Insider on Wednesday following meetings with senior department officials.

“They were doing a lot of things that we were just not aware of,” Manning, who co-chairs the House antisemitism task force, told JI. “It seems to me that they are taking the issue very, very seriously and doing everything they can.”

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed an executive order sanctioning Israeli settlers who have committed violence against Palestinians, the strongest punitive action ever taken by a U.S. administration against Israeli settlers, a move that was swiftly condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The White House described the move as an attempt to “address actions that undermine peace, security and stability in the West Bank.”

The White House announced four Israelis who will face financial sanctions, including the alleged ringleader of a 2023 riot in the Palestinian town of Huwara. Three of them have already faced criminal prosecution in Israel.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Thursday that the administration should ask Congress to authorize military force for its ongoing campaign against the Houthis and other Iranian proxy groups in the Middle East — but said it’s likely that won’t happen.

The administration has thus far cited executive authorities, including constitutional self-defense authorities, for its ongoing strikes against Iranian proxies in Yemen and elsewhere. But Cardin told reporters on Thursday that since the current operations appear likely to extend for some time — potentially testing the executive’s time-limited unilateral war powers — the administration should come to Congress.

The main program at Wednesday night’s Jewish Heritage Night for the Washington Wizards was noticeably devoid of any mentions of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the 136  hostages still being held by Hamas.

The D.C. basketball team has organized the Jewish heritage event annually, with Wizards veteran Deni Avdija, who is Israeli, as its star. Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, which ended in a 125-109 Wizards defeat, featured the U.S. national anthem sung by a choir from the Adas Israel synagogue, a halftime performance by an Israeli dance troupe and an Avdija bobblehead giveaway.

President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Michigan on Thursday — a state that has in recent months become an epicenter of his party’s divisions over Israel. In the lead-up to his trip, the Biden reelection campaign has worked to shore up support within the state’s sizable Arab and Muslim voters, as some organizers in the community rally behind calls to sit out the 2024 election.

Michigan — which also has a significant Jewish community and an influential moderate suburban voting base — is also likely to be critical to Democrats’ hopes of retaining control of the Senate and retaking the House, with an open Senate seat and several key competitive House seats. 

With some congressional Republicans sounding increasingly pessimistic about the prospects for a border deal that would allow supplemental aid for Israel, Ukraine and other U.S. allies to move forward, a few lawmakers are pushing for Congress to proceed with a stand-alone Israel aid bill.

Those calls could grow in the coming days if House Republicans reject the border deal, which negotiators say is essentially finalized and could be made public as soon as this week.

A bipartisan group of senators urged President Joe Biden to strengthen oil sanctions on Iran, with a particular eye toward targeting Chinese purchases of Iranian oil, which have been a lifeline for the regime in Tehran.

“In the wake of the October 7 terror attacks and subsequent attacks by Iran-backed proxies on U.S. forces in the Middle East, we urge you to work harder to stop Iran’s funneling of lucrative oil exports to finance terror,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the president. “These exports provide a crucial lifeline to sustain and expand Iran’s sponsorship of terrorist groups whose objective is to harm U.S. interests in the Middle East and to destroy our ally, Israel.”

Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) broke with the rest of the House on Wednesday evening to vote against a bill barring participants in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel from entering the United States. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) voted present on the bill, while 422 other lawmakers voted in favor.

The “No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act” would designate any members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and any other individuals involved in perpetrating, planning, funding or supporting the Oct. 7 attack on Israel as barred from the U.S. and from seeking any immigration relief from the U.S.