Trump is using the IRS and nonprofit status to chill affirmative action

The Trump administration has just issued proposed regulations stripping private schools of their tax-exempt status if they consider race for admissions and certain other purposes. In doing so, Trump is tightening his hammerlock on institutions that have sought diversity in their classrooms.

Last year, Trump called for the IRS to strip Harvard, one of his favorite piñatas, of its tax-exempt status. Experts said this would be contrary to a federal law prohibiting the IRS from carrying out politically directed audits. Although schools would probably still not owe much in federal income taxes if they lost tax-exempt status, the loss of status would mean donors’ contributions would no longer be tax deductible. Fundraising would thus be dramatically hampered.  

The proposed regulations amplify Trump’s executive orders, pious in tone but pernicious in impact, purporting to end discrimination and restore merit-based opportunity. The regulations, which are subject to a lengthy public comment period that might engender changes, would apply to taxable years beginning on or after May 31, 2027, providing affected institutions with sufficient time to bring their policies into compliance.

If upheld, affirmative action in education benefiting Black and other racial minority students is dead as a doornail. Trump argues that such policies violate the law in the wake of a 2023 Supreme Court ruling banning the use of race-conscious admissions. His administration has recently accused several medical schools of discriminating against white and Asian students in admissions and has opened investigations into numerous universities.

In the majority opinion in that case, Chief Justice John Roberts declared........

© The Hill