Education Secretary Linda McMahon has issued a warning to 60 universities that they're being investigated for antisemitism and could face penalties. Her warning came days after the Trump administration withdrew $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University and as the administration attempts to deport Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil over his involvement in campus antiwar protests at the school. At the same time, President Trump has pledged to abolish the Education Department entirely, with plans announced this week to fire an additional 1,300 employees, effectively cutting the agency's workforce in half. "It's pretty clear what this administration is trying to do, and it has nothing to do with antisemitism," says former Education Department official Tariq Habash, who resigned last year to protest the Biden administration's support of Israel's war on Gaza. "It has everything to do with Donald Trump's vision for America, which is consolidating his authoritarian power."
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