Trump administration faces lawsuit over federal funding freeze at UC

The Trump administration is facing legal action over what faculty and labor groups allege is an attack on academic freedom and free speech at the University of California.

A coalition of faculty, staff, student groups, and every labor union representing UC workers filed a lawsuit, accusing the administration of using civil rights laws to pressure universities into compliance by threatening federal funding.

The lawsuit follows the administration's recent decision to fine the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) $1.2 billion and freeze its research funding, citing alleged civil rights violations, including the handling of antisemitism on campus.

UCLA became the first public university to face a broad freeze of federal funding. Similar actions have been taken against private institutions, including Harvard, Brown, and Columbia.

The legal complaint, filed in federal court in San Francisco, outlines what it describes as coercive demands made by the administration as part of a proposed settlement with UCLA.

These demands include providing access to student, faculty, and staff data; ending diversity-based scholarships; disclosing admissions and hiring information; banning overnight protests on campus property; and cooperating with immigration enforcement.

“The blunt cudgel the Trump administration has repeatedly employed in this attack on the independence of institutions of higher education has been the abrupt, unilateral, and unlawful termination of federal research funding on which those institutions and the public interest rely,” the lawsuit states.

The Department of Justice and the University of California president’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Stett Holbrook, spokesperson for the UC system, said the university is not directly involved in the lawsuit but is engaged in ongoing legal and advocacy efforts to restore funding.

“Federal cuts to research funding threaten lifesaving biomedical research, hamper US economic competitiveness, and jeopardize the health of Americans who depend on the university's cutting-edge medical science and innovation,” Holbrook said.

The lawsuit is led by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and is being argued by Democracy Forward, a legal group known for challenging the Trump administration in other federal funding cases.

University of California President James Milliken warned that all 10 UC campuses are currently under federal investigation, calling it “one of the gravest threats to the University of California in our 157-year history.”

He noted the system receives over $17 billion annually in federal support, including nearly $10 billion through Medicare and Medicaid and substantial funding for research and student aid.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has launched dozens of similar investigations into school districts and universities, focusing on claims of antisemitism and alleged discrimination tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

The administration has argued these efforts disadvantage White and Asian American students.

Earlier this year, Columbia University settled a federal investigation by agreeing to pay $200 million and recovering more than $400 million in previously frozen research funding.

That agreement is reportedly serving as a model for similar actions against other universities, where financial penalties are becoming a standard part of negotiations.