For three years, the Biden administration has weaponized the U.S. government against its people.from fire the justice department The decision was recently finalized after parents protested the school board meeting. Department of Health and Human Services regulations Despite the potential to remove children from foster families who do not accept the lies of transgenderism, this administration has embraced an authoritarian brand of “wokeness” and thrown tolerance and decency out the window.

Now Biden's minions have set their sights on a new target: Christian universities. There are two reasons for this movement. One to protect the higher education cartel from potential competition, the other to persecute Christian institutions that refuse to bow to cultural Marxism. The regime is sending a message that resistance to left-wing orthodoxy will no longer be tolerated, even under the banner of religious freedom.

October, Department of Education (USED) slapped Arizona-based Grand Canyon University was fined $37.7 million, the largest fine in the school's history. GCU is the nation's largest Christian school, enrolling more than 100,000 students each year. Given the size of the fine, it is important that the allegations are commensurate with the seriousness of the allegations, which does not seem to be the case in this case.

USED ​​alleges that GCU misrepresented the cost of the Ph.D. degree and falsely advertised it in marketing materials. The ministry determined that the university had misled “7,500 former and current students about the cost of a doctoral program over several years.” However, these arguments do not appear to hold water within our judicial system, as a federal court has already dismissed similar claims in a lawsuit brought by the plaintiffs against the school. Separately, a Wall Street Journal editorial headlined: “Biden regulators raid Christian colleges.” notes that USED's claims “appear to be false…doctoral students make up less than 5 percent of GCU's enrollment.”

The $37.7 million fine for relatively minor allegations by the Christian school is a bit ironic when compared to other fines issued by USDE.Remember — the department only fined Michigan $4.5 million For underreporting sexual crimes, including the abuse of hundreds of women, by former team doctor Larry Nassar.

Unfortunately, the real motivation here is more about the “who” than the “what.” GCU is a proud Christian school, which may explain why USED decided to pay the largest disciplinary fine in its history. As the school advertises, it creates “an environment that places the ethics and Christian values ​​taught in the Bible at the forefront of the educational experience.” And unlike other popular higher education institutions, GCU has kept tuition rates flat for 15 years to avoid contributing to the ongoing college affordability crisis.

GCU President Brian Mueller continues to maintain that the targeting of the school and students is politically motivated by career bureaucrats and partisan appointees at USED. In his Fox News article, Mueller implied that GCU's reputation as a Christian school is to blame for the continued excesses. In a separate statement, he said, “We will not only stand up for ourselves, but also to prevent this type of ideological government overreach and weaponization of federal agencies from happening to other countries. We need to fight this tyranny by federal agencies.”

In fact, GCU explains in detail why Biden's USED is completely off base in its overreach against schools. The school has said it was punished for challenging USED several times and attempting to convert to a nonprofit organization, a charge the department flatly denied.

Thankfully, GCU is not in this fight alone. Several legislators representing Arizona came to the school's defense and rightly highlighted USED's overreach against GCU.in november letter Sponsored by Rep. Eli Crane and signed by Reps. Lesko, Biggs and Gosar, lawmakers explained their “grave concerns” about the fines to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. They said USED's actions were “overreach at best” and that the department should “immediately rescind this fine” and “commit to a more transparent approach to protecting religious freedom in the future.” insisted.

To these members of Congress who condemned the Biden administration's apparent efforts to stifle fair competition in the higher education system and insidiously discriminate against universities that are disadvantaged because they seek to openly practice their Christian faith. takes off his hat.

But more is needed. GCU should not be allowed to join the ranks of Corinthian University and ITT Institute of Technology, which have been forced out of business by the federal government. As USED continues its campaign to cut off students' access to career colleges, trade schools, and other Christian schools, trapping them in a cycle of indoctrination and debt, Congressional leaders are joining forces to bring hell to life. It is more important than ever to make this happen. .

John Schweppe is policy director at the American Principles Project. X Follow him at @JonSchweppe.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.