A federal judge in Manhattan has dismissed a lawsuit brought by two major labor unions representing Columbia University faculty that challenged the Trump administration’s attempts to cut university funding and impose changes to academic programs and campus policies.
U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil ruled that the plaintiffs—the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)—did not have standing to sue because Columbia University itself was not a party to the case. “Columbia is conspicuously absent from this lawsuit,” Vyskocil wrote in her opinion. She emphasized that any dispute over withheld funds should be addressed “by the appropriate plaintiff in an appropriate forum.”
The lawsuit alleged that the Trump administration used coercive tactics to force the university to tighten discipline policies and increase scrutiny of its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department—actions that critics argue infringe on academic freedom.
In her decision, Vyskocil, a Trump appointee, cautioned against judicial overreach in matters of executive policy. “Our democracy cannot very well function if individual judges issue extraordinary relief to every plaintiff who clamors to object to executive action,” she wrote.
The ruling comes less than two weeks after the U.S. Department of Education threatened Columbia’s accreditation, citing the university’s alleged failure to protect Jewish students amid campus unrest related to pro-Palestinian protests. Columbia has since announced additional security measures and a formal review of the studies department targeted by federal scrutiny.
The unions had originally filed the lawsuit to prevent the federal government from interfering with nearly $5 billion in grants and contracts and to contest earlier threats to cut $400 million in funding.
Todd Wolfson, president of the AAUP, denounced the ruling and the administration’s tactics. “The Trump administration’s threats and coercion at Columbia University are part of an authoritarian agenda that extends far beyond Columbia,” Wolfson said in a statement. “We will continue to fight back.”
Both the AAUP and AFT plan to appeal the decision.
