WASHINGTON The Biden administration will take a new step on Thursday aimed at countering discrimination based on shared ancestry, with plans by eight federal agencies to use the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit certain forms of antisemitism.

Biden warned earlier this month that he felt antisemitism has "risen to record levels" and was a big challenge for the entire country.

The White House said that as part of Biden's national strategy to counter antisemitism, eight federal agencies clarified for the first time that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits certain forms of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination in federally funded programs and activities.

Title VI provides that no one in the United States can be excluded, on the basis of race, color or national origin, from benefiting from any program that receives federal funding.

The eight agencies are: The Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Treasury, and Transportation.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)