Judge dismisses Columbia University faculty lawsuit over Trump funding cuts, demands

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Source: Reuters

Judge dismisses Columbia University faculty lawsuit over Trump funding cuts, demands

Jonathan Stempel
Mon, June 16, 2025 at 4:29 PM EDT 2 min read

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the Trump administration by two labor unions for Columbia University faculty that challenged funding cuts and demands to overhaul student discipline and boost oversight for a Middle Eastern studies department.

U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil in Manhattan said the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers lacked legal standing to sue, with Columbia itself "conspicuously absent" from the case.

"Our democracy cannot very well function if individual judges issue extraordinary relief to every plaintiff who clamors to object to executive action," Vyskocil wrote.

"If any funds have been wrongfully withheld, such funds may be recovered at the end of a successful lawsuit by the appropriate plaintiff in an appropriate forum," she added. "It is not the role of a district court judge to direct the policies of the Executive Branch first and ask questions later."

Both plaintiffs plan to appeal.

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Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-dismisses-columbia-university-faculty-202928291.html

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