Judge Rules Trump Administration Illegally Cut Harvard’s Federal Funding
By Staff, Agencies
A federal judge in Boston ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s administration unlawfully terminated $2.2 billion in federal research grants awarded to Harvard University, blocking the White House from further cutting off funds to the Ivy League school.
The ruling by US District Judge Allison Burroughs marked a major legal victory for Harvard in its ongoing clash with the administration, which has sought to leverage federal dollars to reshape American higher education.
Harvard became a central target of Trump’s campaign against what he has described as antisemitism and “radical left” ideologies on campus. Among the administration’s earliest moves was canceling hundreds of Harvard research grants, citing the university’s alleged failure to protect Jewish students.
The university sued, arguing the actions were retaliation in violation of its First Amendment rights after it refused to cede control over hiring and teaching to federal officials.
Burroughs, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, acknowledged that Harvard had erred by tolerating “hateful behavior as long as it did”.
But she concluded that combating antisemitism was not the administration’s true objective. Instead, she ruled, officials had sought to pressure the school into compliance.
“It is the job of courts to safeguard academic freedom and ensure that important research is not improperly subjected to arbitrary and procedurally infirm grant terminations, even if doing so risks the wrath of a government committed to its agenda no matter the cost,” Burroughs wrote.
Her order bars the administration from freezing or canceling any additional federal funding, withholding payments on existing grants, or refusing to award new grants in the future.
The White House swiftly denounced the decision. Spokesperson Liz Huston called Burroughs “an activist Obama-appointed judge” and insisted Harvard “does not have a constitutional right to taxpayer dollars.”
She added, “We will immediately move to appeal this egregious decision, and we are confident we will ultimately prevail in our efforts to hold Harvard accountable”.
Harvard declined to comment.
The ruling comes amid broader battles between Trump and elite universities. Just last week, Trump renewed his call for Harvard to settle with the administration and pay “nothing less than $500 million.” Three other Ivy League schools, including Columbia University, have already struck deals with the White House. Columbia agreed in July to pay $220 million to regain access to federal funds after similar allegations of tolerating antisemitism on campus.
The administration’s confrontation with Harvard escalated after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and “Israel’s” war in Gaza, when pro-Palestinian protests spread across US campuses. Officials accused Harvard of allowing antisemitism to fester, while the university said it has taken measures to ensure Jewish and “Israeli” students feel safe, acknowledging the “vicious and reprehensible” treatment they endured.
Beyond canceling grants, the administration has threatened Harvard’s accreditation, sought to ban international students—who make up a quarter of its student body—and opened civil rights investigations. Burroughs has already blocked attempts to bar international students in a separate case.
Harvard litigated the case alongside its faculty chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which opposed any compromise with the White House. “We hope this decision makes clear to Harvard’s administration that bargaining the Harvard community’s rights in a compromise with the government is unacceptable,” attorneys Joseph Sellers and Corey Stoughton said in a statement.
