The federal office that enforces civil rights at schools across the U.S. has been ordered to prioritize complaints of antisemitism above all else as it molds to President Donald Trump’s agenda, raising fears that other rights violations will go unpunished.

Trump’s new leader of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights told staff this week they will be expected to aggressively pursue complaints involving antisemitism and hew closely to Trump’s wishes, according to sources who were on the call with Craig Trainor, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.

Already there are signs of a hard turn on civil rights enforcement, including new actions focused squarely on anti-Jewish bias and transgender issues.

Responding to a White House order last week, the office launched new antisemitism investigations at five universities including Columbia and Northwestern. Days earlier, it opened an inquiry into Denver public schools over an all-gender bathroom that replaced a girls’ bathroom while leaving another one exclusive to boys. On Wednesday, Trump ordered schools that receive federal money to ban transgender girls from participating in women’s sports, promising the Education Department would investigate schools and colleges that don’t comply.

The office’s fleet of lawyers have mostly been sidelined while the new administration shifts priorities. Daily work has been frozen, which is typical when a new President takes office, but sources say there’s a new blackout on communication with schools, colleges or those submitting complaints. Questions about how to enforce Title IX go unanswered, leaving schools in the dark as they navigate a new memo from the agency last week.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

In the staff call, Trainor said the office must be more aggressive and faster than it was under former President Joe Biden. He accused the previous administration of neglecting its duty to fight antisemitism, leaving more than 100 cases open. Trump has called for a review of all antisemitism cases opened since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, including those resolved under Biden.

With a rigid focus on antisemitism and gender identity, there’s fear the office won’t give adequate attention to racial discrimination, mistreatment based on disability, or Islamophobia. The office is required to process all complaints it fields, but politics can play a role in setting priorities and choosing which cases to pursue.

Raymond Pierce, who led the office under Democratic President Bill Clinton, said focusing on antisemitism alone doesn’t fulfill the mission of the office — to enforce civil rights laws.

“Antisemitism is an issue,” he said. “But the Civil Rights Act is broader than just religion.”

In a statement, Trainor promised his office “will vigorously investigate all alleged violations of civil rights laws within its purview.”

Trainor had also warned staff of a coming “restructuring” and acknowledged that Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency is examining the Education Department. It raised worries about staffing cuts in a civil rights office that has seen dwindling numbers even as it received a record 22,687 complaints last year.

Additionally, there’s concern Trump in his quest to shut down the Education Department will slash the office’s budget and move it to the Justice Department, as suggested in the Project 2025 blueprint created by the conservative Heritage Foundation.

The impact of Trump’s changes are most likely to be felt by Black students and those who are disabled, according to lawyers and advocates. For decades, the Office for Civil Rights has worked to force equal access for marginalized students, said Derek W. Black, a law professor at the University of South Carolina.

If the office finds merit in a complaint, it has the power to withhold federal funding until schools or states comply.

“Are there local and state officials who want to do right by kids? Of course, there are,” Black said. “But are there districts that don’t think it’s a big deal or don’t want to do right by poor kids? Unfortunately, there are.”

Historically, most complaints to the department have involved disability discrimination, but last year accusations of sex discrimination surged to account for more than half of all complaints, according to an annual report. Disability discrimination accounted for 37%, while discrimination over race or national origin accounted for 19%.

In addition to its duty to investigate complaints, the office creates federal rules to interpret federal law for schools and colleges. That role has been at the center of a political tug-of-war over Title IX, with recent administrations repeatedly rewriting the rules governing investigations of campus sexual misconduct.

The Biden administration issued new rules last year expanding Title IX to protect transgender and LGBTQ+ students, and boosting victims’ rights. A federal judge overturned the rules in January, reverting to a previous set of rules from Trump’s first term.

In a memo to schools and colleges last week, the Office for Civil Rights emphasized that the earlier Trump rules would be enforced, but it created confusion about how to handle cases that were opened when Biden’s rules were in effect. With no communication from the department, there has been little clarity for schools.

There are also questions about how antisemitism investigations will change. Trump has used heated rhetoric to push for more aggressive action against colleges found to have tolerated antisemitism, and Trainor blasted the Biden administration for signing “toothless” agreements to resolve cases. No new guidance has been issued to lawyers who investigate cases.

As the office awaits orders to resume its work, it faces a growing backlog of complaints.

Before Trump took office, there were more than 140 open investigations involving shared ancestry, many of them dealing with antisemitism or Islamophobia. The Biden administration opened more than 100 investigations after Oct. 7, 2023. A flurry of schools reached deals to settle the cases before Trump took office amid fears that he would issue heavier sanctions.

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.

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Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will be paying more than $2.3 million on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. to the Florida Medicaid program.

Florida’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit secured the win through a multistate action, after whistleblowers filed lawsuits against the company alleging that Biohaven had been giving health practitioners kickbacks to hawk their products to patients, specifically the migraine headache treatment Nurtec ODT, according to the Florida Office of the Attorney General.

In the settlement agreement from the U.S. Department of Justice, it states health care providers were paid these kickbacks to present at various speaker programs that were held virtually, in a provider’s office, or at other offsite venues, such as high-end restaurants.

It was alleged the providers then tried to persuade their colleagues to prescribe Nurtec to Medicaid and other federal health care beneficiaries — a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.

Biohaven had paid providers up to $100,000 to host speaker programs, which in some cases were attended by the provider’s spouse, family, friends, and colleagues from their own practices, despite there being no educational need for them to attend the program.

It was further alleged that some providers attended multiple speaking events, receiving expensive meals and drinks all paid for by Biohaven in order to influence the providers to prescribe Nurtec to their patients.

“I’m incredibly proud of our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for leading the way in holding Biohaven accountable. Actions, like those alleged here, must be stopped to prevent health care fraud,” acting Florida Attorney General John Guard said in a statement.

Investigations into the allegations against Biohaven were launched by the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units team, who negotiated settlements alongside the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York. Attorney general offices from California, New York, and Virginia were also involved in the investigation.

In total, Pfizer agree to pay $2,300,449 to the Florida Medicaid program, and will pay millions with interest to Puerto Rico, the U.S., and 37 other states to resolve the lawsuits, with the settlement topping $59 million.

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Boca Raton Democratic Sen. Tina Polsky already has a fleet of bills filed for the coming Legislative Session. Their focus ranges from abortion, gun safety and medical cannabis use to property taxes, text spamming and campaign finance.

Many are re-runs, she said, because the changes they propose are still very much needed.

Atop the list is SB 288, which Polsky described as a “very mild” adjustment to Florida’s existing ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

The bill would enable abortion after six weeks if it’s necessary to prolong the woman’s life or prevent morbidity of a major body part, including “substantial impairment” to her fertility. Currently, the law allows for post-six-week abortions only to save the mother’s life or prevent “serious risk of substantial physical impairment.”

SB 288, which pends a House companion, would require only one physician to determine if a later-than-six-weeks abortion is necessary, rather than two as Florida law now mandates. It would also nix a requirement that a doctor certify their judgment in writing.

“Basically, we’re looking to expand (what constitutes) medical emergencies so doctors and hospitals can treat their patients without worrying about being sued, losing their license or going to jail,” Polsky told Florida Politics.

Polsky referenced an ad opposing Amendment 4, a failed ballot measure from last year aimed at codifying abortion protections in the Florida Constitution, which told viewers that pregnant women with life- or health-threatening medical emergencies could still be treated. In reality, she said, that hasn’t entirely been the case.

“The language in the original bill is just too restrictive. I have a constituent who bled out and had a miscarriage in a salon bathroom because the hospital turned her away. That’s not acceptable,” she said. “We’re trying to keep women from dying, as they have in Georgia and Texas. This is really a pro-life bill.”

Two related bills aimed at helping legal pot users are also on the docket.

One (SB 142), would add protections for government employees with medical use cards from termination. Oakland Park Democratic Rep. Mitch Rosenwald is carrying its House analog.

The other (SB 146) would ensure that parents with medical marijuana clearance won’t have their parental rights denied or restricted solely because they have a card.

Polsky, who practices labor and employment law, said Florida’s restrictions on medical cannabis use don’t make sense when considering federal disability laws.

“If you had to take Xanax for a mental health condition, they couldn’t fire you for that, but they can fire you for using medical marijuana for the same mental health condition. It doesn’t make sense,” she said.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I substance alongside heroin and considers the drug to have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Polsky said that’s a big roadblock she’s “disappointed didn’t get taken care of by the (Joe) Biden administration.

“But still, if Florida is going to maintain this medical marijuana card, then people should not have adverse employment or parental actions as a result of using something legally as long as it doesn’t affect their job or ability to parent,” she said.

Polsky is carrying several gun-related bills. They include:

— SB 256, named “Jaime’s Law” after 14-year-old Jaime Guttenberg, one of the many victims of the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) in Parkland. The bill would apply to ammunition sales many of the same strictures currently in effect for firearms. Coral Springs Democratic Rep. Dan Daley, an MSD alum, is carrying its House twin.

— SB 252, dubbed the “Responsible Gun Ownership Act.” It would mandate universal background checks for firearm sales and transfers, strengthen safe storage standards and require every gun sold to include educational materials on responsible gun ownership and either a trigger lock or gun case. The measure would also ban the possession or manufacture of unfinished firearms without serial numbers, including so-called “ghost guns” made with a 3D printer. Democratic Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, who was the Mayor of Parkland when the MSD shooting occurred, is again sponsoring the House version.

— SB 238, to which Daley is carrying a House analog. The bill would enable local governments to pass stricter gun regulations.

— SB 254, which would expand the definition of “machine gun” to include any gun modified to fire at a faster rate. The measure, essentially, is an answer to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year to undo a ban on bump stocks effectuated during President Donald Trump’s first administration after one was used in the Oct. 1, 2017, massacre in Las Vegas.

Polsky lamented efforts by her GOP colleagues in recent years to roll back safety measures the Legislature enacted after the MSD shooting, such as a bill Palm City Republican Rep. Toby Overdorf filed this month to delete Florida’s bump stock ban from state statutes so that it’ll match federal law.

“I don’t understand this backwards trend we’re seeing,” she said. “As the Senator of Parkland, I want to do everything I can to keep that good work going and go further to keep Floridians safe”

Three more bills are high on Polsky’s to-do list. One, which she hasn’t yet filed, would remove the sunset date of a bill she and Hollywood Democratic Rep. Marie Woodson passed in 2022 to give property tax exemptions to people whose homes were damaged during a natural or man-made disaster.

The current law is set to expire in July. The update, Polsky said, would allow it to continue in perpetuity.

Another (SB 245) isn’t likely to be popular with people maddened by the seemingly nonstop political texts that went out last year. Florida cracked down two years ago with a law banning spam text messages sent to recipients who opted out of receiving them. An attractive feature in that measure was that people could sue for damages against the unwanted sender.

Polsky’s bill would exempt nonprofit organizations, including political groups and campaigns, from that liability. That was the intent of the original legislation, she said, but nonprofits have nevertheless still been taken to court, though every case has been tossed.

“Nobody likes that we were all bombarded by political campaigns, but this law wasn’t meant to affect nonprofit organizations,” she said. “I don’t want a cottage industry to start where if I can’t stand Donald Trump and he sends me a lot of texts and I try to unsubscribe and it keeps coming, I can sue him for that. Because that’s what is starting to happen.”

The last priority bill (SB 216) is one that more people are likely to get behind. It would simply provide that a state agency cannot use state funds — taxpayer dollars — to advocate for or against any matter that is the subject of a constitutional amendment or revision.

It’s Polsky’s answer to what Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration did last year by leveraging state resources and funds to defeat a pair of constitutional amendments meant to guarantee abortion access and legalize recreational marijuana.

“I am so disgusted by how much state money was spent for political purposes,” she said.

The regular 2025 Legislative Session commences March 4 and runs through May 2.

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