Justice Dept Drops Admissions Discrimination Lawsuit Against Yale

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit accusing Yale University of having illegally discriminated against Asian and white applicants in undergraduate admissions.

The Justice Department sued Yale in October, as part of a push by Republican former President Donald Trump's administration against affirmative action in admissions to elite universities.

In a court filing, the Justice Department said federal rules governing court procedures allowed it to dismiss the case because Yale had yet to formally respond to or seek dismissal of the complaint.

Joe Biden, a Democrat, is now president, and it was not immediately clear whether his administration wished to pursue the case on its merits.

The Justice Department and Yale did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Nate Raymond in Boston; editing by Jonathan Oatis)