Investigation and Tour to Address Radical, Antisemitic Encampment at George Washington University

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) is advancing his committee’s crackdown on antisemitism on college campuses with a visit to George Washington University‘s campus to view the pro-Palestinian encampments on Wednesday.

Comer and Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Byron Donalds (R-FL), and Eric Burlison (R-MO) are heading to the Washington, D.C. university to tour the “radical, antisemitic, and unlawful encampment” that mirrors several others that have sprouted on college campuses as the war between Israel and Hamas continues.

The members will hold a media availability at 3 p.m. following the encampment tour and meetings with George Washington University leadership.

The committee’s visit comes the day after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other House committee leaders held a press conference on Tuesday announcing the Republicans’ “crackdown” on antisemitism.

Other committee chairs said they are planning to hold hearings on the matter, with House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) saying she has sent notices to appear to the chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the presidents of the University of Michigan and Yale University.

On May 8, the House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on the Metropolitan Police Department’s reported refusal to clear the George Washington University encampment, a source familiar confirmed to the Washington Examiner. Both Mayor Muriel Bowser and MPD Chief Pamela Smith have been invited to testify.

This comes after Comer and Foxx sent a letter to Bowser and Smith demanding answers on the reports the MPD refused to clear out protesters over worries about the “optics” of moving against a small number of demonstrators.

“It is deeply disturbing that while GWU has attempted to take concrete measures to protect the safety of its Jewish student body from persecution and harassment, it is hindered by the MPD’s refusal to provide assistance clearing out the encampment, over fears of public criticism,” Comer and Foxx wrote.

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Wednesday’s visit to George Washington University comes ahead of a House vote on the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023, which would require the Education Department to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws on college campuses.

It also comes as the House GOP appears to be hitting a dead end with the Biden impeachment inquiry. So far, both the House Oversight and Judiciary committees have failed to produce definitive evidence that ties Joe Biden to any criminal activity or misconduct that constitutes a high crime or misdemeanor, or an impeachable offense.