Senator takes on federal education officials for 'threatening' letters to colleges, universities

Article here. Excerpt:

'U.S. Sen. James Lankford is accusing the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights of overstepping its authority in confronting the issues of bullying, harassment and sexual violence on college campuses and becoming the bully itself.

Lankford, R-Oklahoma, is chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management, which since September has been examining whether the Education Department and other federal agencies have been sidestepping the required regulatory process through the improper use of guidance letters.

In a letter being sent Thursday, Lankford said he wants the Education Department to prove its new mandates for “sweeping policy changes” on bullying, harassment and sexual violence at the nation’s colleges and universities are actually rooted in federal statutes and regulation.'