The Define to Defeat Act of 2025 would use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s May 26, 2016, definition of antisemitism, including its examples. Federal departments and agencies would include the definition in anti-discrimination training. In federal civil or criminal cases involving antisemitism, courts would include it in jury instructions. When federal agencies review possible violations of specified civil rights laws connected to Jewish identity, they would consider whether antisemitism was a motive. The act says it would not expand agency enforcement powers, change existing standards for finding a violation, or limit rights protected by law or the First Amendment.
If enacted, the definition would be used in certain federal agency training, civil rights reviews, and jury instructions. The bill does not change the legal standards agencies use to decide whether a civil rights law was violated. It is in progress and was referred to House committees.
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The bill’s findings say a common definition could support monitoring and investigation, improve enforcement, and increase understanding of antisemitism. They describe antisemitism as a persistent problem and the IHRA definition as a useful tool.
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