A Political Standoff Over Affirmative Action

A doubleheader of events on Capitol Hill Thursday shone a spotlight on the hardening political battle lines over the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down affirmative action. In the morning, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on “The Changing Landscape of College Admissions,” during which the Republican-led committee presented a wide-reaching view of the decision’s impact and cautioned colleges against running afoul of the ruling by trying to work around it. A few hours later, the Department of Education released the report “Strategies to Increase Diversity and Opportunity in Higher Education,” following up on broader guidance that it provided last month.