Judge Rejects Bid to Block Columbia From Complying With Congressional Anti-Semitism Probe

The university will need to notify the students and the court at least 30 days before handing over any student records the House committee seeks.

Students stage a walk-out protest at Columbia University’s Low Library steps to condemn the presence of U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on campus and call for the release of Mahmoud Khalil in New York City on March 11, 2025. Dana Edwards/Reuters

Columbia University may share records related to pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and other students with members of Congress investigating anti-Semitism on college campuses, a federal judge in New York ruled on April 4.

In his order, Judge Arun Subramanian of the Southern District of New York refused to block Columbia from complying with a records request issued by the Republican-led House Education and Workforce Committee. He said the university must notify the students and the court at least 30 days before handing over any student records the committee seeks.

Khalil, along with seven other Columbia students, sued the federal government in March, alleging it was attempting to coerce Columbia into suppressing their First Amendment rights. The plaintiffs said the government was investigating Columbia and threatening to cut off $400 million in funding to pressure the university into cracking down on pro-Palestinian activism.

“The coercive effect of the Committee’s actions is very real,” the complaint stated. “Entities like the university feel pressure to cooperate with the government in its efforts to chill and punish protected speech.”

The students also sought a court order that would stop Columbia from releasing records that include their names and disciplinary histories.

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), who chairs the House committee, in February demanded that Columbia hand over documents related to 11 incidents related to pro-Palestinian protests, including the April 30, 2024, occupation of a campus building and the Jan. 21 disruption of a “History of Modern Israel” lecture.

“Columbia’s continued failure to address the pervasive anti-Semitism that persists on campus is untenable, particularly given that the university receives billions in federal funding,” the congressman wrote in a letter to the university.

Subramanian found that the students had not met the legal threshold required for the broad relief they sought, including whether they have standing to challenge Walberg’s letter or Columbia’s response to it.

The judge also noted that Columbia had redacted all personally identifying information from the documents it had already submitted to the House committee. The Ivy League school has indicated it does not, at least for now, plan to release any additional records, and the committee isn’t asking for any further records.

The April 4 order does leave open the possibility for the students to file the request again if they can address the issues the court identified in their current claims.

“In the meantime, to give plaintiffs the opportunity to seek timely relief if necessary, Columbia will be required to notify plaintiffs and the Court thirty days before further student records” are produced, Subramanian wrote.

Walberg welcomed the decision, calling it a “victory for credible oversight.”

“The work to investigate antisemitism on our nation’s college campuses and develop legislative solutions will continue,” he said in a statement. “Our Committee will not sit by idly as a wave of antisemitic threats flood our colleges and universities and interfere with students’ education.”

Khalil, a Syrian national of Palestinian descent, recently graduated from Columbia University’s master’s program. He became a prominent figure in campus protests of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which was a retaliation for the Hamas-led terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that left about 1,200 people dead and more than 200 kidnapped.

Khalil was arrested at his university housing on March 9, as part of an operation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at holding perpetrators of “unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence” accountable.

“Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” the DHS alleged.

Earlier this week, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that the case challenging Khalil’s arrest and deportation will stay in New Jersey, because that is where Khalil was detained when his lawyers filed a petition requesting his release, even though he is currently being held at an immigration facility in Louisiana.

“The Court’s jurisdiction is not defeated by the Petitioner having been moved to Louisiana,” Judge Michael Farbiarz of the District of New Jersey wrote in a ruling.