After Columbia University took steps to align itself with President Donald Trump’s demands regarding antisemitism on its campus, the Trump administration now reportedly wants to take additional steps to ensure Columbia does not falter.
Sources in the administration leaked to the Wall Street Journal that it is pursuing a legal arrangement, known as a consent decree, that would create a court-enforced compliance agreement to make certain that Columbia continues to align its policies and practices with executive directives on antisemitism laid down by Trump.
After facing the threat of losing $400 million in federal funding over its response to alleged antisemitism on its campus, Columbia took steps to revise its policies and practices. These included changes to its protesting policies, an expansion of the school’s Jewish studies program, placing the school’s Middle Eastern studies program under new supervision, alterations to student disciplinary procedures and more.
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To ensure those changes last, the Trump administration is reportedly moving to usher in a consent decree, which could place Columbia in contempt of court if a judge determines that the school is not in compliance with the administration’s directives.
Such violations could lead to further monetary penalties for Columbia. While the Trump administration has said Columbia is on the “right track” to restore its $400 million in federal funding, no formal announcement has been made indicating it has been.
The consent decree must be voluntary, so Columbia must be a willing partner in the arrangement. Fox News Digital reached out to Columbia for comment, and to inquire whether the school plans to voluntarily enter into the consent decree, but did not receive a response in time for publication. Columbia can fight the move in court if it so chooses.
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Consent decrees are not an unusual tool for an administration to use to ensure its policy priorities are being implemented. Under former President Joe Biden, the government entered into consent decree arrangements with police departments to ensure they were implementing the president’s desired criminal justice reforms. Biden also pursued these legal arrangements with various universities, including Brown and Rutgers, over antisemitism concerns after the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in Israeli, according to the Wall Street Journal.
According to the sources who leaked the information about the consent decree arrangement, the Trump administration is pursuing the matter because it has doubts about Columbia’s desire to follow the president’s federal directives on antisemitism in good faith, despite its public actions to do so.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
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