Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing back against the Trump administration amid federal funding cuts to UCLA that amount to over half a billion dollars.
Newsom urged UC administrators to not sell “their soul” to President Donald Trump in an Aug. 7 press conference following the suspension of about 800 of UCLA’s research grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Energy in late July. The agencies cited alleged “antisemitism” and use of illegal affirmative action practices as reasoning for the freeze.
[Related: FEDERAL FUNDING CUTS TO UCLA]
Simultaneously, Newsom was also leading a plan to replace California’s current congressional map – a move initiated in response to Texas legislators introducing a gerrymandered political congressional map that favored Republicans and was encouraged by President Donald Trump, according to the New York Times. Californians will decide on whether to pass the new maps – which favor the Democratic party – in a special election.
Over 170 faculty members from law schools across the UC have signed a letter backing Newsom’s declaration to fight Trump. The letter also challenges the legality of the funding cuts and urges the UC Board of Regents to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration to restore the university’s research funding, as opposed to striking a deal with the Trump administration.
“I hope that this public stance by Governor Newsom reflects the thinking of the people at the top of the UC system,” said Joseph Fishkin, a professor of law at UCLA who signed the letter. “So far, the University of California has not brought a lawsuit against what the Trump administration is doing. They should. In the meantime, many researchers at UC institutions have brought an important class action lawsuit.”
Terms for a potential settlement have not yet been reached, but the Trump administration proposed that the UC pay $1 billion in August.
The settlement would also require UCLA Health to stop offering gender-affirming care. It would also require UCLA to end its race and ethnicity-based scholarships, hire a resolution monitor and a new senior administrator to oversee the school, and ban overnight protests.
[Related: Proposed UCLA settlement from federal government seeks $1 billion, policy changes]
UCLA officials and UC President James Milliken are reviewing the proposals to see if a deal would be possible, Milliken said in an Aug. 8 statement. Milliken added in the statement that a billion dollar settlement would “completely devastate” the UC system.
Fishkin said UC administrators have been “very quiet” about their negotiations with the Trump administration, adding that he believes if the legality of the withheld grants is brought to court, the decision will be made in UCLA’s favor.
Harvard University – which sued the Trump administration after it froze over $2 billion of its grants and contracts – is currently the only university that has tried this strategy to regain its federal funding. A federal judge found the freeze illegal Sept. 3, temporarily restoring Harvard’s grants – a decision that the Trump administration said it would appeal.
“The law is not always fast, and it doesn’t always work the way it should, and so I understand why some people within universities like this one feel that the best choice is to try to make a deal as quickly as you can and to try to reduce the damage,” Fishkin said. “But our point with this letter – and my personal view – is that the university is clearly legally in the right, and that ought to count for something.”
But not all California legislators have taken as hard of an approach as Newsom. U.S. Senator Alex Padilla told Politico that he would be open to UCLA negotiating and reaching a deal with the administration. He added that a “minor or negligible” settlement would ensure the continuation of university research programs.
Adam Peddie, a rising third-year history student and the external vice president of Bruin Democrats, said he believes making compromises with the federal government would be a mistake that would allow Trump to “abuse our (the university’s) rights.” Multiple colleges, including Columbia University, agreed to pay fines to the Trump administration and change how their schools operate to accommodate the administration.
“Look at Columbia,” Peddie said. “They immediately succumbed, and what happened? They had not all their funding restored for research. They had to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on these ridiculous fines.”
These varying concerns come as Newsom emerges as an unofficial Democratic frontrunner for the 2028 presidential election. While Newsom is yet to confirm his intent to run, he said he was open to entering the race in a June Wall Street Journal profile.
Newsom has taken aggressive jabs at the president since the latter assumed office in January – particularly on social media, where his press account has posted in capital letters, imitating Trump’s style of posting on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Ariela Gross, a professor of history and law, believes Newsom’s push back is necessary to protect UCLA.
“Of course Governor Newsom has political ambitions,” Gross said. “But the idea that the university is sort of being used for his political ambition suggests that there’s some other path the university could take that would be safe, and I think that’s really wrong.”
Peddie said he believes “people in California want a fighter” and a governor who pushes back against Trump instead of taking an “even-keeled line.”
As UCLA continues to face threats from the Trump administration over research grants, Gross added that the UC is being watched by “everyone in higher education” amid negotiations and that settling would be a “disaster.”
“The Trump administration hates California,” they said. “They’re targeting California, and if California doesn’t fight back with all the strength of the fourth largest economy in the world – if California and the number one public university in the world doesn’t fight back – that’s going to be incredibly demoralizing for everyone who’s trying to defend democracy.”
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