House Education and the Workforce Committee Chair Rep. Virginia Foxx has called on Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to resign after she claims he declined to condemn a chant used by pro-Palestinian protesters as antisemitic in a February 7th interview. She condemned Cardona’s remarks to a group of Jewish reporters after he did not outright say whether the phrase “from the river, to the sea, Palestine will be free” should be considered antisemitic by college officials.
A U.S. Department of Education (USDE) spokesperson, in response to Foxx, said Cardona has consistently said calls for genocide should never be tolerated and college leaders must act when students feel unsafe. In addition, Cardona told reporters that calls for genocide are “not tolerable,” according to Jewish Insider, but also said “it’s difficult for me to make a statement here” about the chant. He said the department investigates each case and he believes “antisemitism can include anti-Zionist statements.”
In addition to her criticism of Sec. Cardona, Rep. Foxx announced that she will not seek another term as chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. She chaired the committee between 2017 and 2019 and returned to the role in 2023 when Republicans reclaimed control of the House. She is stepping down after her term as chair ends in January 2025 due to the expiration of a waiver that allowed her to circumvent GOP conference rules limiting the consecutive terms a chair can serve to three. She has served on the committee since joining Congress in 2005.
Sources: Politico and K-12 Dive.