Trump administration pushing for judicial oversight of Columbia in antisemitism efforts, report says

Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News on Apr 10, 2025

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NEW YORK — The Trump administration is pushing for a legal agreement that would task a federal judge with supervising Columbia University, which is fighting to restore federal funding, according to a published report.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday the federal government’s antisemitism task force wants to resolve its dispute with Columbia through a settlement known as a “consent decree.”

A consent decree may be used to ensure Columbia follows through on changes negotiated with the federal government. If college administrators break such an agreement, which is legally binding, the university may have to pay a fine or face other penalties.

Reps for Columbia would not say if a consent decree was under active consideration, but did not shut down the idea either:

“The University remains in active dialogue with the Federal Government to restore its critical research funding,” read a Thursday evening statement.

Either the federal government or Columbia would likely have to file a formal lawsuit in court for a judge to ratify the agreement. Neither party had taken such action as of late Thursday.

The federal government canceled $400 million in grants and contracts at Columbia last month over allegations it had not done enough to protect Jewish students from harassment. The university made concessions to the Trump administration in an attempt to recoup the funds, such as placing Middle Eastern studies under the supervision of a college administrator.

With those efforts so far unsuccessful, Columbia’s interim president Katrina Armstrong vacated the top post nearly two weeks ago, in a decision that was praised by the federal antisemitism task force as an important step toward advancing negotiations.

In the last days of her college presidency, Armstrong had to defend her commitment to mask restrictions and other measures agreed to with the Trump administration after leaks from internal meetings revealed she tried to assure faculty that not much had changed. Critics accused her of wavering on her commitments to the federal government — a situation that in theory could be monitored via a consent decree.

While she initially planned on returning to lead its medical center, Columbia announced earlier this week that Armstrong would be taking a sabbatical instead.

The Journal did not say what changes the federal government would require as part of a potential consent decree, or for how long a judge would have oversight powers. The U.S. Education Department did not immediately return a request for comment.

At stake is hundreds of millions in federal research grants, which make up the majority of the canceled funding. Faculty have held several rallies over the last few weeks to emphasize the impact on medical advancements — while still pushing back on what they see as an affront to academic freedom. More recently, they filed a lawsuit in federal court to restore the funding.

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