Miguel Cardona says the federal Education Department is investigating Columbia University over on-campus protests.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Tuesday said the federal Education Department is investigating Columbia University over on-campus protests over the war in Gaza.

“I should share with you that we do have an open investigation at Columbia University,” he said to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the fiscal year 2025 budget request.

Capito also praised University of Florida President Ben Sasse, a former United States senator, for responding with police force to on-campus protesters at the university and pressed the secretary to follow his example.

“We do have a statement that I've updated after the campus protests that make it very clear that being unsafe on campus is not going to be tolerated, and that we do not condone and we definitely reject any calls for genocide or any calls for antisemitism or any antisemitism on campus,” Cardona said. “And that's something that I've been pretty adamant about even before October 7th.”

“Do you have people at Columbia right now on the scene to see what's going on there? Do you have staff there to watch?” Capito asked.Cardona confirmed that Education Department staff were not on campus.