WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order Thursday directing federal agencies to tie research and education grants made to colleges and universities to more aggressive enforcement of the First Amendment, according to a draft of the order viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The order instructs agencies including the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Defense to ensure that public educational institutions comply with the First Amendment, and that private institutions live up to their own stated free-speech standards.
The order falls short of what some university officials feared would be more sweeping or specific measures; it doesn’t prescribe any specific penalty that would result in schools losing research or other education grants as a result of specific policies.
Trump announced his intention to issue an executive order concerning free speech on college campuses last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference, citing allegations that conservatives on campuses across the U.S. were being silenced.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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