To amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to recoup certain payments of Federal financial assistance.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMrs. Moody introduced the following bill; which was read twice …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The RECLAIM Act strengthens enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by expanding penalties for institutions found to violate civil rights laws. It allows federal agencies to terminate funding for entire programs rather than just specific noncompliant parts, requires institutions to repay federal assistance received during years of noncompliance, and automatically suspends all federal funding to institutions under court injunctions for civil rights violations.
Who Benefits and How
Federal civil rights enforcement agencies benefit by gaining broader authority to penalize noncompliant institutions across entire programs rather than piecemeal. The federal government can recoup funds through mandatory repayment of assistance provided during noncompliance periods. Civil rights plaintiffs and advocacy organizations benefit from stronger enforcement mechanisms that make it easier to hold institutions accountable for violations.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Universities and colleges face the highest risk, as they could lose all federal funding (including research grants, student aid, and program support) if found in violation of Title VI or subject to a civil rights injunction. These institutions must also repay all federal assistance received during fiscal years when noncompliance occurred, creating potentially massive financial liabilities. Other recipients of federal assistance—including hospitals, state agencies, and nonprofits—face similar risks of losing funding and being required to repay past assistance.
Key Provisions
- Expands the scope of funding termination from specific noncompliant programs to entire institutional programs or activities
- Requires recipients to repay all federal financial assistance received during any fiscal year in which they are found in Title VI noncompliance, regardless of whether those funds have been spent
- Automatically suspends all federal financial assistance to any institution subject to a court injunction for Title VI violations, with suspension lasting until court certification of compliance or one year, whichever comes first
- Mandates that federal agencies notify all other federal agencies when an injunction is issued, requiring government-wide suspension of assistance to the recipient institution
- Establishes debt collection procedures under Title 31 for recovering repaid funds as claims of the United States Government
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to expand enforcement scope, require repayment of federal financial assistance upon noncompliance findings, and restrict future funding after court injunctions.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Strengthen enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by expanding financial penalties and reducing federal funding to noncompliant institutions, particularly targeting educational institutions with allegations of antisemitism (based on short title reference)"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Civil rights enforcement agencies
- Plaintiffs in civil rights cases
- Federal government (through recouped funds)
Likely Burden Bearers
- Universities and colleges receiving federal assistance
- Other recipients of federal financial assistance found in noncompliance
- Federal agencies administering assistance programs (increased enforcement burden)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "recipient"
- → Recipient of Federal financial assistance for a program or activity
- "the_court"
- → Federal court with jurisdiction over Civil Rights Act claims
- "federal_department_or_agency"
- → Any Federal department or agency empowered to extend Federal financial assistance
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Failure to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, found in accordance with procedures described in Section 602(1)
As defined in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - assistance provided by Federal departments or agencies for programs or activities
Court order issued in a case where a recipient of Federal financial assistance is alleged to be in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology