Trump Withdrew a Subpoena Demanding UPenn Identify Jewish Faculty
The Trump administration issued a subpoena to the University of Pennsylvania demanding a list identifying Jewish faculty, then dropped it after UPenn refused to comply. The New York Times reported the withdrawal under the headline “Trump Administration Drops Subpoena Demanding List of Jews from Penn.”
The administration framed the subpoena as a civil rights investigation. Officials claimed they needed to identify and interview Jewish faculty to document antisemitic incidents on campus, arguing this was necessary to “protect” Jewish students and organizations.
UPenn’s leadership declined to hand over the list. According to the LGBTQ Nation report on the withdrawal, the administration had also threatened to withhold federal grants and other funding from the university if it did not comply. UPenn did not submit to those threats.
Why Government-Compelled Religious Lists Are a Constitutional Problem
The First and Fourth Amendments place strict limits on government demands for information tied to religious identity. A subpoena compelling a university to produce a list of individuals based on their religion raises Establishment Clause and Free Exercise concerns, as well as Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches. Courts have repeatedly held that the government cannot selectively compile lists of people by religious group without a narrowly tailored, legally sufficient justification.
“Trump Administration Drops Subpoena Demanding List of Jews from Penn.”
New York Times headline, as reported by LGBTQ Nation, 2026
The administration’s claimed justification, investigating antisemitism to protect Jewish people, does not automatically override those constitutional barriers. The subpoena targeted a class of people defined by religion, which is precisely the kind of government action the Bill of Rights was written to prevent.
UPenn’s resistance matters beyond this one case. When the administration threatened funding cuts to force compliance, and the university held its position anyway, it demonstrated that institutions can push back against pressure campaigns built on legally questionable demands.
What You Can Do Now
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Call your senators at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to co-sponsor the Free Speech and Academic Freedom Act, which would prohibit the executive branch from conditioning federal research funding on university compliance with compelled disclosure demands targeting students or faculty by religion or viewpoint.
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Contact the House Education Committee at (202) 225-4527 and ask members to hold oversight hearings on all civil rights subpoenas issued to universities since January 2025, including what personal information was sought and whether funding threats accompanied them.
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Find your state attorney general at naag.org/find-my-ag and urge them to file amicus briefs in any pending litigation involving federal pressure campaigns against public or private universities in your state.
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Submit a public comment to the Department of Education at regulations.gov whenever new civil rights enforcement guidance is posted. Comments are part of the legal record and can be cited in future litigation challenging overreach.