The RECLAIM Act changes how the federal government enforces civil rights laws, particularly focusing on institutions that violate civil rights protections. Currently, when a school or organization receiving federal funding is found to discriminate, the government can only cut off funding to the specific program where the violation happened. This bill expands that power so the government can cut off federal funding to the entire institution, not just the problematic program.

The bill also adds two new enforcement tools. First, if an institution is found to violate civil rights laws, it must repay any federal money it received for that program during the year of the violation—even if it already spent the money. Second, when a court orders an institution to stop discriminating (called an injunction), all federal agencies must stop sending that institution any federal funding until either the court confirms the institution is following the order or one year passes, whichever comes first. Additionally, federal agencies must tell each other about these court orders so they can coordinate and ensure the institution doesn't receive federal money from any source.

In practical terms, this makes it much harder for institutions to continue receiving federal support while violating civil rights laws. An institution found to discriminate faces losing all its federal funding across all programs, having to return money it already received, and being cut off from federal support government-wide until it proves it has fixed the problem.