Education groups sue Trump administration over Columbia funding battle

Two groups are suing the Trump administration over its demands of and funding pause at Columbia University, which recently conceded to change its policies, causing uproar in the higher education community.  

The American Federation of Teachers and American Association of University Professors (AAUP) filed the lawsuit Tuesday, calling the Trump administration’s moves an “unlawful and unprecedented effort to overpower a university’s academic autonomy and control the thought, association, scholarship, and expression of its faculty and students.” 

The saga began when the Trump administration paused $400 million of federal funding, claiming Columbia’s alleged inaction on antisemitism. The federal government then gave Columbia a laundry list of demands with which it needed to comply to even begin discussions of restoring the funding.  

Last week, Columbia agreed to all the demands, changing its policies on disciplinary proceedings and putting some departments on academic receivership.  

The lawsuit alleges the administration is using “coercive tactics” and is in violation of statutory requirements.

“Although Defendants purport to be enforcing Title VI, the anti-discrimination law covering institutions that receive federal funds, their disregard for the statute’s requirements belie that claim,” the lawsuit reads, adding the Trump administration did not give the university the required hearing or time to correct issues before taking away funding. 

“These restrictions exist precisely because Congress recognized that in a system where institutions depend on federal funds, letting federal agencies withhold funding cavalierly would give them dangerously broad power,” it added.  

The Hill has reached out to the Department of Education for comment.  

Even after Columbia conceded to all the Trump administration’s demands, the Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism made clear it is not ready to restore funding yet.  

The lawsuit comes the same day AAUP, along with the Middle East Studies Association and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, also sued the Trump administration over its targeting of foreign students and faculty who have participated in the pro-Palestinian protests. 

—Updated at 12:05 p.m. EDT