Mike Johnson Announces New House Investigation into Anti-Semitism on College Campuses

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) will soon announce the launch of a new investigation by the House of Representatives into widespread instances of anti-Semitism on college campuses, as violent riots rock multiple universities across the country.

According to Fox News, sources say that at least six different committees will be involved in the wide-ranging probe: Education and Workforce; Energy and Commerce; Oversight; Judiciary; Ways and Means; and Science, Space, and Technology. There was already an existing investigation by the Education and Workforce Committee, led by Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.). That investigation focused on a handful of Ivy League universities, including Harvard, and ultimately led to the resignations of Harvard President Claudine Gay and University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill.

Johnson will reportedly announce the new investigation in a press conference on Tuesday, alongside all six committee chairs. Johnson recently visited Columbia University and gave a speech on-campus denouncing the riots by anti-Israel students, but received criticism for the perceived ineffectiveness of his appearance.

“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,” said Johnson at the time. “You are intimidating and shouting down people you disagree with.”

Anti-Israel protests have been taking place across the country ever since the October 7th attacks against Israel by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas; the demonstrations accelerated into further violence following an attack on Israel by Iran on April 13th. Students at universities such as Columbia have demanded that their schools divest from companies that do business with Israel, and have also turned to harassing Jewish students.

The sources told Fox that the investigation will focus on universities that receive federal funding. Each committee will have a different role to play, as all six committees have some level of jurisdiction over colleges across the country. For example, while the Judiciary Committee will investigate the universities from a perspective of anti-discrimination laws, the Oversight Committee will probe who is funding the protests.

Johnson issued a press release announcing the planned press conference, saying that “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.”