New treatments for genetic diseases. Advances in solar-based sustainable energy. Financial aid for needy students and medical assistance for the elderly.
All of that — and much more — is supported by the $9 billion in federal funds given annually to the University of California for research, education and healthcare. Those funds drew widespread public attention Thursday, when President Trump tweeted that UC Berkeley’s federal funds might be at risk after campus officials cancelled an appearance by conservative firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos to safeguard the public from violent protesters.
“If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view — NO FEDERAL FUNDS?” Trump tweeted.
Legal experts say presidents have no authority to cut off federal funds for alleged violations of the 1st Amendment. Even if they did, pulling funding from UC — the nation’s premier public research university system — would cripple myriad projects that richly benefit the nation, said Stuart Russell, a computer scientist at UC Berkeley and founding director of the Center for Human-Compatible AI.
“For Trump to threaten federal funding, which by the way benefits the country in terms of the scientific research the campus does that helps our defense and helps our industries … seems like the act of a dictator,” he said.
According to UC data, the $9 billion in annual federal funding includes:
Even if Trump could not legally cut federal funding, Russell said, federal agencies “might think twice before allocating funding to Berkeley” because of presidential annoyance.
But Erwin Chemerinsky, a 1st Amendment expert and the dean of UC Irvine School of Law, said the 10th Amendment bars the federal government from using benefits such as funding to coerce state and local governments into desired action.
“The government can’t condition money to a campus on the condition that campus administrators not speak critically,” he said. “It would be unconstitutional.”
UC Regent Norman Pattiz, who heads the regents’ committee on national laboratories, said Trump’s tweet surprised him. He said UC researchers supported by federal funding have made enormous contributions — helping the missions to Mars, modernizing nuclear security, advancing alternative energy and discovering new medical treatments.
“They really are tremendous resources to California, the nation and the world,” Pattiz said.
Ali Vayeghan was one of an unknown number of people whose plans were disrupted by President Trump's entry ban. UC Berkeley was home of the free speech movement. Today, California's flagship university is under fire from the right and left. Tread cautiously. That's how Super Bowl advertisers are feeling in the fraught political landscape. Snapchat app maker Snap's IPO filing might be the biggest ever for a Los Angeles company.
Ali Vayeghan was one of an unknown number of people whose plans were disrupted by President Trump's entry ban. UC Berkeley was home of the free speech movement. Today, California's flagship university is under fire from the right and left. Tread cautiously. That's how Super Bowl advertisers are feeling in the fraught political landscape. Snapchat app maker Snap's IPO filing might be the biggest ever for a Los Angeles company.
Ali Vayeghan was one of an unknown number of people whose plans were disrupted by President Trump's entry ban. UC Berkeley was home of the free speech movement. Today, California's flagship university is under fire from the right and left. Tread cautiously. That's how Super Bowl advertisers are feeling in the fraught political landscape. Snapchat app maker Snap's IPO filing might be the biggest ever for a Los Angeles company.
Ali Vayeghan was one of an unknown number of people whose plans were disrupted by President Trump's entry ban. UC Berkeley was home of the free speech movement. Today, California's flagship university is under fire from the right and left. Tread cautiously. That's how Super Bowl advertisers are feeling in the fraught political landscape. Snapchat app maker Snap's IPO filing might be the biggest ever for a Los Angeles company.
New research from Georgia Tech reveals how frog tongues work.
New research from Georgia Tech reveals how frog tongues work.
A speech by conservative firebrand and Milo Yiannopoulos was canceled at UC Berkeley on Wednesday amid violent protests that prompted President Trump to suggest cutting funding to the university.
A speech by conservative firebrand and Milo Yiannopoulos was canceled at UC Berkeley on Wednesday amid violent protests that prompted President Trump to suggest cutting funding to the university.
Two Republicans senators have defected and will vote against Betsy DeVos for secretary of Education. Could President Trump’s proposed 20% border tax set off an international food fight? Are emails and texts sent on the personal devices of government employees a public record? 22,000 new U.S. factory jobs could be generated by limiting car imports from Mexico.
Two Republicans senators have defected and will vote against Betsy DeVos for secretary of Education. Could President Trump’s proposed 20% border tax set off an international food fight? Are emails and texts sent on the personal devices of government employees a public record? 22,000 new U.S. factory jobs could be generated by limiting car imports from Mexico.
Neil M. Gorsuch, a highly regarded conservative jurist best known for upholding religious liberty rights in the legal battles over Obamacare, is President Trump's Supreme Court nominee.
Neil M. Gorsuch, a highly regarded conservative jurist best known for upholding religious liberty rights in the legal battles over Obamacare, is President Trump's Supreme Court nominee.
teresa.watanabe@latimes.com
Twitter: @teresawatanabe
amina.khan@latimes.com
Twitter: @aminawrite
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Could Trump really cut funding to UC Berkeley? It would be very difficult
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