WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) sent a letter to Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona raising concerns about the Department’s potential unequal application of policies, procedures, and fines for religious institutions. The lawmakers point to the Department’s proposed punitive fines and apparent disregard for longstanding process in its ongoing review of Liberty University’s compliance with the Clery Act.
In the letter, the lawmakers write:“It has become increasingly evident that the Department is prepared to make an example of Liberty University by issuing an exorbitant and unprecedented fine. The departure from the Department’s process became apparent when the preliminary program review report was leaked to the Washington Post last year. Typically, an institution is able to review a program review report and has the opportunity to respond to every finding before the Department issues a Final Program Review Determination. The leaking of this preliminary report, or of any such pre-decisional report, undermines the due process that institutions are entitled to in a program review.”
The letter continues:“We understand the Department proposed a fine of $37.5 million to Liberty University, the highest fine ever recorded for any Clery Act violation. We also are aware that the Department may be attempting to establish a new fining regime that seizes or presumes authority to fine for continuing violations beyond the applicable statute of limitations apparently without any prior public notice or precedent… It is imperative that we understand the Department’s justification for the recent unilateral changes to Clery Act proceedings as they apply both to the case of Liberty University, and to future cases involving other institutions.”
The lawmakers conclude: “Given the unprecedented nature of these proceedings, we request that the Department conduct a briefing to staff that provides thorough answers to these questions before any further action is taken with respect to any Clery Act proceeding.”
