Trump signs executive orders targeting CRT, antisemitism

The order titled "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling," asserts that parents trust schools to provide a “rigorous education” to their children, but in recent years, public confidence has declined as schools “indoctrinate their children in radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight.” It argues that such an environment “operates as an echo chamber, in which students are forced to accept these ideologies without question or critical examination."

The order prohibits federal funding of the "indoctrination of children which includes radical gender ideology and critical race theory in the classroom.” Schools run by the Department of Education are also directed to develop a strategy for ending “indoctrination in K-12 education” within 90 days.

The order further instructs the attorney general to work with state attorneys general and district attorneys to take legal action against educators or school officials engaging in “social transition” practices. This includes school policies that educators must adhere to a student's "preferred pronouns."

The Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on CRT and gender ideology come as several states have passed laws of their own to remove such teachings in the classroom. Additionally, the order reinstates the 1776 Commission. Originally established during Trump’s first term, the commission is tasked with prioritizing “the advancement of patriotic education.”

The executive order fulfills a campaign pledge Trump made to defund schools that promote these far-left ideologies.

“On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children,” Trump previously stated, according to the Hill.

The president also signed an executive order titled "Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism," which states that it is the policy of the US to combat antisemitism by "using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence." This order directs executive agency heads to submit a report to the president within 60 days that identifies civil and criminal authorities that can be used to combat antisemitism. The report submitted by the Secretary of Education is required to include an analysis of Title VI complaints and administrative actions, including in K-12 education, related to antisemitism since the October 7 attack.