The University of California (UC) system may soon find itself at the center of the Trump administration’s intensifying campaign against higher education institutions, as top officials signal plans for sweeping legal action.
Leo Terrell, senior counsel at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and head of its newly formed antisemitism task force, announced on Fox News Tuesday that UC will be the next target. “There will be massive lawsuits against [the] UC system” and other institutions “on the East Coast, on the West Coast, in the Midwest,” Terrell said. “Expect hate crime charges filed by the federal government. Expect Title VII lawsuits.”
This marks the first time the Trump administration has publicly named a state university as a potential legal target in its broader effort to reshape higher education—an effort critics say is politically motivated and disproportionately aimed at institutions perceived as liberal strongholds.
Thus far, the administration’s most aggressive actions have been directed at Ivy League institutions, particularly Harvard University. Trump has already cut nearly $3 billion in federal funding from Harvard, threatened to withhold an additional $3 billion, challenged its ability to enroll foreign students, and questioned its tax-exempt status. Harvard is currently suing over the funding pause and restrictions on admitting international students.
But the administration is undeterred. “If it goes all the way to the Supreme Court, Trump is going to do that,” Terrell said.
The DOJ’s invocation of antisemitism claims to justify sweeping federal lawsuits has drawn sharp criticism from civil rights advocates and higher education leaders, who see it as a smokescreen for political retribution. Still, the administration is forging ahead with its legal strategy.
“We have to bring these universities to their knees,” Terrell said during the interview, underscoring the administration’s confrontational stance.
If carried out, the lawsuits against UC would represent a new phase in the administration’s legal war on higher education—one that may have far-reaching consequences for public universities across the country.
