The Little-Known Bureaucrats Tearing Through American Universities
Four days after she stepped down under government pressure during fraught federal funding negotiations, Katrina Armstrong spent three hours being deposed by a government attorney in Washington, D.C. The lawyer grilled Armstrong over whether she had done enough to protect Jewish students against antisemitism.
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The Hill
20 minutes ago
- The Hill
Slotkin says she would have voted to block arms sales to Israel
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said Thursday that she would have voted to block arms sales to Israel over hunger in Gaza after missing a series of Senate votes Wednesday night to appear on Stephen Colbert's show. The Michigan senator said she was worried about the lack of food and medicine entering Gaza, and that 'images of emaciated children are hard to turn away from.' 'Should similar votes on offensive weapons come up in the future, I will take them on a case-by-case basis, with the hope of important humanitarian course corrections,' she wrote in a lengthy statement on X. 'While the leaders of Hamas deserve what they're getting in response to October 7, and Israel — like any other country in the world — has the right to defend itself, that doesn't include letting children go hungry.' The resolutions, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), would have blocked more than $675 million in weapons sales to Israel, and barred another transfer of tens of thousands of assault rifles. They were resoundingly defeated in the Senate, although a record number of Democrats — more than half the caucus — voted in favor. The votes came amidst growing worry in the Democratic caucus over what the United Nations termed 'mounting evidence of famine and widespread starvation' in Gaza, where Israel's war is nearing its two-year mark. President Trump has also expressed concern with the situation, acknowledging earlier this week that there was 'real starvation' in the territory. Slotkin, who is Jewish, served three tours in Iraq as a CIA analyst in the early 2000s. She said in her statement that her experience in the Middle East showed her that aid could be safely distributed in complex war zones. '[E]ven in the most violent years of the war, the U.S. still had the responsibility to facilitate humanitarian supplies into places like Fallujah,' she wrote. 'And militaries that can pull off dangerous and complex operations overseas can also ensure aid is safely distributed in occupied areas.' Slotkin also said that the conduct of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had significantly undermined the country's standing among American lawmakers, writing that he had threatened 'the longstanding bipartisan consensus that have helped keep Israel safe since its inception.' Still, Slotkin appeared to garner criticism from fellow Michigander Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D), the only Palestinian-American in Congress. 'Shame on every senator who voted to continue arming the Israeli apartheid regime or didn't even have the courage to show up and vote,' the representative wrote on X. Michigan is home to one of the largest populations of Arab Americans in the country and was the epicenter of backlash during the 2024 election against the Biden administration's support of Israel.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Columbia University to Aid Trump Policing of Foreign Students Under Deal
Beyond the $221 million that Columbia University will pay as part of its settlement with the White House, the school also accepted new requirements that threaten to sour its relationship with a crucial source of talent and revenue: foreign students. Under the terms of last week's agreement, Columbia will take on new duties to help the government police international students, said a university official with knowledge of the deal's repercussions. That includes reporting even minor offenses such as trespassing – a common charge for student protesters – that previously were resolved without involving federal authorities.
CBS News
2 hours ago
- CBS News
Northwestern University faculty ask school not to cave to Trump over funding freeze in open letter
A group of faculty at Northwestern University have written an open letter to school leadership, asking them not to make a deal with President Trump after he froze hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. The Trump administration withheld approximately $790 million in funds from Northwestern in April, accusing the school of fostering antisemitism as part of a Department of Education investigation into pro-Palestinian protests on campus in 2024 that they allege violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. In the letter, published in the Daily Northwestern, the Northwestern Concerned Faculty Group says they believe Northwestern will be "pressured to reach a 'deal' with the Trump administration" to release the funds. "We call on Northwestern's leadership to resist the administration's attack on fundamental democratic principles by refusing to 'make a deal' with the administration," the faculty write. "Acquiescence to the administration's tactics would make Northwestern complicit in an assault on higher education, which is an essential bulwark of civil society. The administration is skirting legal processes and demanding what amounts to ransom from universities; such actions continue its well-documented and dangerous abuse of executive power." Last week, Columbia University in New York City reached a $200 million settlement with the Trump administration to be paid over three years, along with an additional $21 million to settle investigations from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The settlement restores $400 million in federal grants that the Trump administration has been withholding since March. The settlement also bans face masks and coverings intended to conceal a person's identity, codifies a policy regarding protesters showing university IDs, requires hiring special safety officers, and required the university to follow laws banning considering race in student admissions and faculty hiring. The school is also required to have a federal monitor overseeing the policy changes. "We know that some university leaders hope to protect the future of higher education by negotiating agreements with the Trump administration. We too wish to protect the important work of colleges and universities — where faculty teach students, conduct and publish ground-breaking research, and produce music, art and literature," the open letter states. "But consenting to an agreement like Columbia's will weaken Northwestern and fail to prevent future interference in our mission. In short, it will violate the fiduciary responsibility of Northwestern's leadership. The way forward is to not give in to the lawlessness of the Trump administration — it is to stand up for American institutions of higher education." Brown University also cut a deal with the Trump administration to restore grant funding in exchange for commitments on women's sports, antisemitism, admissions practices and a donation of $50 million to workforce development programs. The University of Pennsylvania also recently reached a deal with the Trump administration over their policy on transgender athletes in women's sports. Northwestern has recently announced a hiring freeze, cutbacks, layoffs and program and benefits changes to cope with the budgetary shortfall from the federal funding freeze. The school vowed to keep funding the research programs endangered by the president's federal funding freeze, but as a result it is now facing major budget shortfalls.
