University workers file a lawsuit against Trump, alleging financial coercion, due to his interference with UCLA's funding.
In a landmark lawsuit, a group of 21 unions and faculty associations representing over 100,000 University of California (UC) employees have taken President Trump to task, alleging a scheme of targeting, bullying, and unconstitutional actions. The lawsuit, filed in the San Francisco-based federal court for the Northern District of California, claims that the Trump administration is engaging in arbitrary, ideologically driven, and unlawful use of financial coercion to impose a conservative ideological dominance on UC education, hospitals, and labs across the state.
At the heart of the dispute is the largest chunk of federal grants to UCLA, amounting to approximately $500 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. The hearing, scheduled for an unspecified date, will focus on this significant funding allocation.
The American Assn. of University Professors, affiliated with faculty groups on UC campuses, is among the parties that sued. The lawsuit alleges that Trump is illegally forcing ideological dominance over UC education, violating the constitution, and endangering jobs by suspending research grants and seeking a $1.2-billion fine against UCLA.
The suit also claims that workers across the UC system have faced grant cuts, budget reductions, layoffs, and allegedly curtailing of free speech rights as a result of federal directives and funding eliminations related to race, diversity, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
UCLA occupational therapist Ursula Quinn has stated that agreeing to the government's proposed settlement would be "devastating" for researchers, healthcare workers, and the entire UC community. UC President James B. Milliken has called the more than $500 million in UCLA grant cuts and the proposed fine a "devastating" existential threat to the university system. He has warned that current federal cuts are "minor in comparison to the threat that looms," and that cuts could go far beyond UCLA and hit all 10 UC campuses as well as hospitals.
The lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration has violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which regulates executive branch rule-making. The suit is the second filed independently by UC faculty and workers against the Trump administration, aiming to reverse federal grant cuts and block government demands.
In a separate UC-Trump case, UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley faculty have filed a case months ago, with a pivotal hearing scheduled for Thursday in a San Francisco federal district court.
The UC spokesperson has stated that UC is engaged in numerous legal and advocacy efforts to restore and maintain funding for critical research. The federal cuts to research funding threaten lifesaving biomedical research, hamper U.S. economic competitiveness, and jeopardize the health of Americans who depend on the university's cutting-edge medical science and innovation.
The lawsuit further claims that the government has violated the 10th Amendment, which says powers not given to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved for states and the American people. UCLA says it has made changes to improve the campus climate for Jewish communities and does not use race in admissions.
An Ipsos survey shows that a majority of American Jews are "somewhat or very concerned" about campus antisemitism but dislike Trump's approach to combating it. The Trump administration is attempting to "take over day-to-day management" of UC via "coercion" by threatening to cut into the system's $17 billion in annual federal funding.
As the legal battle unfolds, the UC system and its employees stand firm in their commitment to uphold academic freedom, diversity, and the pursuit of knowledge, regardless of political pressure or financial coercion.
