Trump’s Columbia Funding Halt Draws Suit From Academic Unions

Two educational unions sued the Trump administration over its withholding of $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University, calling the move an illegal attempt to limit academic independence and free speech on campus.

The lawsuit by the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers, filed Tuesday in New York, comes as Columbia itself has been negotiating a deal with the government to restore funding. The Ivy League university has agreed to expand campus police powers and ban masked protests, among other measures.

Columbia’s concessions to the administration shows the government’s “immense financial leverage and underscores the threat to academic freedom where such leverage is exercised unlawfully,” the unions said in their complaint. They are asking a judge to declare illegal the administration’s March 7 termination of federal funds and subsequent demands made on the school.

The lawsuit is the latest to challenge the Trump administration’s attempts to crack down on Columbia following a series of pro-Palestinian protests that have erupted on campus since Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel. The government has accused the university of failing to deal forcefully with antisemitism on campus, citing complaints from Jewish students since the Hamas attack, in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.

Columbia undergraduate Yunseo Chung on Monday sued President Donald Trump and other officials for allegedly attempting to revoke her status as a permanent US resident over her participation in campus protests over Gaza. A former graduate student, Mahmoud Khalil, who is also a green card holder, is currently fighting detention and potential deportation due to his campus activism.

‘Climate of Repression’

The Justice Department, which will represent the administration, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Columbia also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The American Federation of Teachers has more than 1.8 million members, including faculty and staff at schools ranging from kindergarten to university-level. The American Association of University Professors represents about 44,000 faculty and academic professionals at colleges throughout the country, including Columbia.

The university professors’ union filed a separate suit Tuesday in federal court in Massachusetts asking a judge to block the administration’s policy of arresting, detaining and deporting noncitizen students and faculty who participate in pro-Palestinian protests.

This has “created a climate of repression and fear on university campuses,” with students and faculty declining opportunities to publish commentary or participate in classroom discussions, the union said. Some have deleted past work from online databases and websites.

In addition to the mask ban and empowerment of campus police, Columbia agreed to appoint a senior vice provost to oversee its Middle East, South Asian and African Studies department and also said it would alter its recruitment procedures for faculty.

“By revoking $400 million in grant funds and threatening to cancel more, the Trump administration has been able to accomplish through financial pressure what the First Amendment forbids it from doing directly: punish protesters based on their viewpoint, regulate the admissions process, and alter the ideological makeup of faculty,” the unions said in the New York suit.

The cases are American Association of University Professors v. Bondi, 25-cv-2429, US District Court, Southern District of New York, and American Association of University Professors v. Rubio, 25-cv-10685, US District Court, District of Massachusetts.

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