Cato Podcast Trump Universities?
22 snips
Oct 9, 2025 Neal McCluskey, Director for Cato's Center for Educational Freedom, discusses the constitutional risks of Trump's 'Compact with Academia,' highlighting the threats to academic freedom and ideological balance. Adam Michel, Director of Tax Policy Studies, critiques enhanced Obamacare subsidies, presenting economic reasons against their extension. The conversation delves into the implications of federal funding and its politicization of academia, as well as the standoff over budget cuts and potential layoffs within the federal workforce.
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Federal Leverage Over Campus Ideas
- The Compact seeks to enforce ideological balance across universities using federal leverage.
- Neal McCluskey warns this makes the president the arbiter of academic truth and threatens academic freedom.
Carrots Look Like Sticks
- The Compact is vague about enforcement and mixes carrots with implied sticks.
- McCluskey notes the administration pairs the compact with threats like removing research funding.
Court Pushback Highlights Limits
- The Harvard case showed limits to presidential power when persuasion masks broader aims.
- The judge found the administration acted beyond rooting out antisemitism and sought to transform the institution.
