Federal program awash with $4B in taxpayer funds probed over antisemitism

Two congressional committees are investigating potential civil rights violations related to antisemitism by a federal program awash with $4 billion in taxpayer funds.

Following up on the rise in antisemitism on campuses, compliance by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health is under scrutiny by the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Education and the Workforce. A joint letter from respective chairwomen of each to Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, director of ARPA-H, requests answers to questions that will ensure a research environment free of harassment and discrimination, including for those of Jewish faith or heritage.

Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, of Energy and Commerce, and Virginia Foxx, of Education and Workforce, authored the letter also signed by subcommittee chairmen Brett Guthrie, Burgess Owens and Morgan Griffith. The Republicans are from, respectively, Washington, North Carolina, Kentucky, Utah and Virginia.

ARPA-H focuses on leveraging research advances for real-world impact, according to its website. It is an independent agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services within the National Institutes of Health.

Congress first funded the program with $1 billion before making it part of the PREVENT Pandemics Act.

Since 2022, ARPA-H has accumulated $4 billion in funding and supplied nearly $600 million in research projects, with over $500 million going directly to universities and research institutions, according to the letter.

In 2024 alone, the agency dispersed millions of dollars to well-known universities and research institutions. The list includes $104 million to Harvard Medical School; $39.5 million to Columbia University; $35 million to the University of California, San Francisco; $27 million to the Wyss Institute at Harvard University; $26 million to Stanford University; $24 million to Yale University School of Medicine; $18.4 million to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; and $7 million to the University of Pennsylvania.

The civil rights requirements signed when requesting the federally assisted programs are being closely examined, and according to the letter, 11 of the 14 projects funded this year are under federal or congressional investigations for permitting antisemitic behavior on campus. Some are being sued in federal court.

A now-closed investigation found 135 complaints of anti-Jewish discrimination alone at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign through an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education.

Because of the ongoing reports of antisemitism, the committees are asking specific questions and demanding answers by Oct. 16.

The first questions ask what steps, if any, are taken to ensure compliance with civil rights laws, especially regarding the antisemitic protests and riots, for organizations receiving taxpayer funds.

The letter asks what enforcement mechanisms ARPA-H has if violations are found or if there are concerns with particular project teams.

The second questions ask what practices, if any, are in place for those working in the funded programs to notify the agency of complaints for violations, how ARPA-H informs those on the projects to notify the agency, and how, if at all, the agency communicates steps to file civil violation complaints.

The third question asks how many complaints of antisemitic discrimination, harassment, or related hostile work environment the agency or the agencies that oversee it have received since the start of ARPA-H.

The letter asks them to name the institutions, the total number of complaints, and how these complaints were addressed.

The final question asks how the ARPA-H has worked with the overseeing agencies to battle antisemitism, harassment, or discrimination on college campuses.