The UC announced it would implement a systemwide hiring freeze in response to recent federal and state policies which threaten to cut the University’s budget.

UC President Michael Drake announced the move in a Wednesday email, saying that recent policies implemented by President Donald Trump’s administration endanger the University’s education, medical and research funds. These policies – combined with a cut of hundreds of millions of dollars to the University’s budget in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year – necessitate the freeze, he added in the email. 

[Related: UC faces over $270M in proposed budget cuts, threatening personnel and programs]

Drake also said in the email that he has directed every UC campus and the UC Office of the President to limit costs, including delaying maintenance services and reducing travel for business.

“Because every UC location is different, these plans will vary accordingly,” he said in the email. “But regardless of UC location, every action that impacts our University and our workforce will only be taken after serious and deliberative consideration.” 

Several universities – including Harvard University, Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania – have already announced they will freeze hiring in response to federal funding cuts. UC San Diego independently announced that it was implementing a partial hiring freeze in February. 

The National Institutes of Health announced Feb. 7 that it would cap the “indirect costs” – which include administrative expenses such as lab equipment and office spaces – it will fund through grants to 15%. The NIH is the largest funder of UC research, providing a total of $2.6 billion to the University in the 2023-2024 academic year.

A federal judge temporarily struck down the order March 5, leaving the fate of the UC’s research funding up in the air.

[Related: Federal judge stops plan to reduce NIH grants that could limit UC research funding]

The Trump Administration has also threatened to revoke funding from universities that allow antisemitism and “illegal” protests. Several federal agencies announced March 7 they would cancel federal grants and contracts worth $400 million to Columbia University – a campus that has experienced pro-Palestine protests, sit-ins and encampments – after claiming that administrators failed to protect Jewish students from harassment. 

A United States Department of Justice task force that Trump said he created to “combat antisemitism” announced it would visit UCLA and UC Berkeley — along with eight other universities — to evaluate discrimination claims. The task force also said it would investigate the UC for alleged antisemitic treatment of employees. 

The Department of Justice also issued a statement of interest in a lawsuit filed against UCLA, the UC Board of Regents and Drake on Tuesday, expressing support for the plaintiffs – four UCLA community members who said they experienced antisemitic exclusion during the first Palestine solidarity encampment last spring. 

[Related: DOJ files statement of interest supporting plaintiffs in UCLA antisemitism lawsuit]

The freeze was announced as the UC Board of Regents meets at UCLA. The University announced in a briefing paper to a Tuesday Investments Committee meeting that it has $186.7 billion in investment holdings, which represents a $6.9 billion increase on the previous year.

Michael Avant – the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents patient care, service and skilled craft workers – said in an emailed statement that the hiring freeze will harm a University that the union believes already has too many staff vacancies.

“Today’s announcement … simply represents more of the same institutional failure,” Avant said in the statement. “That’s why more than a third of the over-worked, under-staffed and undercompensated employees we represent have recently left their jobs.”

However, UCOP spokesperson Stett Holbrook said in an emailed statement that the university will carefully consider staffing needs while evaluating decisions.

Drake said in his email that UC leaders are also advocating on behalf of the university to state and federal officials. 

“The University’s legal team prepared for this moment and has been working diligently to protect the University and our mission through the courts,” he said. “We will continue to pursue all appropriate actions and advocacy options available to us moving forward.”