Chair Cassidy Slams Teachers’ Union for Failing to Address Antisemitism, Marginalizing Jewish Members

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, slammed the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) for failing to address a culture of antisemitism that marginalizes its Jewish members. AFT's current Vice President, Dr. Todd Wolfson, has a pattern of engaging in overtly divisive rhetoric downplaying antisemitism and discrimination against Jewish faculty after the October 7 terror attacks.

"It is clear that Jewish members are not being defended. Jewish faculty members deserve to carry out their work free from discrimination," wrote Dr. Cassidy. "As an association with a national presence, it is concerning that AFT has not only failed to help solve this problem but has made it worse by allowing Dr. Wolfson to continue to serve in a leadership role."

Read the full letter here or below.

Dear President Weingarten:

I write to share concerns that a member of your leadership team is fostering a culture of antisemitism that alienates Jewish members of your community. As you know, in October 2024 Todd Wolfson, Ph.D., was elected as president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and currently serves as an AFT Vice President. Given AFT's partnership with AAUP and the prominent role that Dr. Wolfson holds in your organization, I would like to know what actions AFT has taken to address the several instances of organizational antisemitism that have occurred under his leadership.

Jewish members of professional organizations, unions, and academic associations across the country have been marginalized and isolated. As a leading union for educators with a national presence, AFT has a responsibility to hold its leadership and partner organizations accountable to demonstrate to their Jewish members that their concerns are taken seriously.

On March 6, 2025, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Academic Engagement Network (AEN) wrote AAUP a letter expressing concerns about a webinar it hosted for its members titled, "Scholasticide in Palestine"1 Many Jewish members felt ostracized by the nature of this webinar, which exemplifies the growing concern that an academic association is not promoting academic freedom or the free exchange of ideas. The ADL/AEN letter also noted that the webinar was "taking place within a wider context of the AAUP being perceived as increasingly moving in a virulently anti-Israel direction, and as a result, growing insensitive and even hostile to the concerns of its Jewish and Zionist members."2

In the six months since he received this warning from one of the nation's leading organizations dedicated to fighting antisemitism, Dr. Wolfson has not only failed to address these concerns but has exacerbated them.

On August 19, Inside Higher Ed published an interview in which Dr. Wolfson described the "weaponization of antisemitism."3 The former president of the University of California said this characterization "gaslights Jews, minimizing the alarms that Jewish communities have raised about discrimination on campus."4 AAUP has a duty to protect all of its members from being marginalized, including the 73% of Jewish faculty who have reported observing antisemitism from faculty, administrators, and staff on their campuses.5

Dr. Wolfson has also made explicitly political statements, including that AAUP "believe[s] strongly that no weapons should be sent to Israel" and calling Vice President J.D. Vance a fascist.6 Advocating a political position as the president of an academic association stifles the voices of members who may think differently. He went on to say that AAUP "need[s] to make sure that we defend our members."7

It is clear that Jewish members are not being defended, however. Jewish faculty members deserve to carry out their work free from discrimination. As an association with a national presence, it is concerning that AFT has not only failed to help solve this problem but has made it worse by allowing Dr. Wolfson to continue to serve in a leadership role.

To shed light on this serious situation, we request that you respond in writing to each of the following questions individually by November 6, 2025:

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

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