Teachers' unions sue Trump administration over Columbia University funding threats
The American Association of University Professors and American Federation of Teachers have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of holding funding hostage at Columbia University.
Columbia's administration is not involved in the lawsuit.
"That's McCarthyism, that's not patriotism"
The plaintiffs believe the damage was done, and a legal case was made, as soon as the Trump administration demanded changes by dangling federal funding.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, acknowledged Columbia's need for reform but took issue with the threat attached to it.
"There were a whole bunch of Jewish students that were afraid," Weingarten said. "We fight discrimination and we fight for research. But it shouldn't be an administration that tries to leverage one for the other. That's McCarthyism, that's not patriotism."
In a statement, a Department of Justice spokesperson said, "This Department will continue to vigorously defend President Trump's agenda in court and protect Jewish Americans from vile antisemitism."
"You're threatening that entire system"
The lawsuit also alleges that the Trump administration withholding $400 million in funding has terminated grants for fetal health, Alzheimer's and cancer research.
A press conference was held Wednesday -- not on Columbia's main campus, but 40 blocks uptown at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
"The cuts that they're threatening mean cancer patients left without hope," said Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors.
Marcel Agueros, an astronomy professor at Columbia, says the legal fight is bigger than just one university.
"When you start to concede to the kinds of demands that the administration has been making, you're threatening that entire system," he said.
