A US federal judge has struck down a Trump administration decision to revoke roughly $2 billion in research funding from Harvard University, ruling that the move violated the Ivy League institution's First Amendment rights.
In her 84-page decision issued Wednesday, Judge Allison Burroughs of the District Court in Boston declared that the government’s actions—freezing grants and terminating federal funding—constituted an unlawful infringement on the university’s free speech protections.
"The Court vacates and sets aside the Freeze Orders and Termination Letters as violative of the First Amendment," Burroughs wrote. She barred the administration from further withholding payments or halting future federal funding to the university.
The Trump administration imposed the freeze in April, accusing Harvard of fostering antisemitism, promoting "radical left" ideologies, and practicing racial bias. In contrast, other Ivy League schools—Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, and Brown—avoided litigation by negotiating deals with the White House to retain their funding.
Despite the ruling, the Trump administration vowed to appeal. Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston denounced the ruling as "egregious" and called Judge Burroughs an "activist" appointed by former President Barack Obama. “Harvard does not have a constitutional right to taxpayer dollars,” Huston said, adding the university would remain ineligible for future grants.
Harvard President Alan Garber welcomed the decision, stating it "affirms Harvard's First Amendment and procedural rights." He emphasized the university would continue reviewing the decision and monitoring legal developments in a rapidly shifting political climate.
While acknowledging Harvard’s failure to adequately address antisemitism—which she said had “plagued” the campus in recent years—Judge Burroughs argued that combating antisemitism was not the administration’s true motivation. She asserted that the funding freeze was part of a "targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country's premier universities" and that antisemitism had been used as a “smokescreen.”
This is not the first time Judge Burroughs has ruled against Trump’s policies. In 2020, she blocked a move to deport international students whose classes had shifted online due to COVID-19.
Harvard filed its lawsuit against the funding freeze in April while reaffirming its commitment to addressing antisemitism. University officials have also rejected what they describe as attempts by the government to dictate academic policies, hiring decisions, and research priorities.
Former President Trump has additionally threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status and seize control of patents derived from federally supported research. Negotiations between the university and the government over the unfreezing of funds have reportedly taken place, with Trump demanding no less than $500 million as a condition.
Source: BBC
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