The Biden administration has proposed changing a Trump-era rule that would suspend federal funding to colleges that impede the activities of religious organizations on campus.
In an announcement on Tuesday, a U.S. Department of Education (DOE) official called the regulation “unduly burdensome” and issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
The DOE formulated the rule in 2019 in response to an executive order by then-President Donald Trump, titled “Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability at Colleges and Universities.” The rule went into effect in November 2020.
Following President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration, the DOE announced that it was conducting a review of the aforementioned rule. The regulation included a provision that enabled the federal government to withhold grants from higher education institutions that imposed restrictions on the operations of religious student groups, among other things….