Trump administration's $2.2B grant cut to Harvard illegal, rules judge
What's the story
A United States federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump's administration illegally canceled about $2.2 billion in research grants to Harvard University. The ruling was delivered by US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston, Massachusetts. The decision is a significant legal victory for Harvard, which has been at the center of a conflict with the Trump administration over federal funding and alleged antisemitism on campus.
Legal criticism
Judge criticizes Trump's actions against Harvard
Judge Burroughs, appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, acknowledged that while the university "could (and should) have done a better job of dealing with" antisemitism on campus, the research grant terminations and antisemitism are not particularly connected. "A review of the administrative record makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that Defendants used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault on this country's premier universities," Burroughs wrote.
Funding protection
Ruling prohibits further federal funding cuts to Harvard
Judge Burroughs's ruling also prohibits the Trump administration from cutting off or freezing any more federal funding to Harvard. It also prevents them from withholding payments on existing grants or denying new awards in the future. Three other Ivy League schools, Columbia, Penn, and Brown, have reached deals with Trump to protect funding that was under threat. During an August 26 Cabinet meeting, Trump demanded a settlement of "nothing less than $500 million" from Harvard to restore its federal funding.
University response
Harvard argues grant termination was politically motivated
Harvard has maintained that it has taken steps to make its campus more inclusive for Jewish and Israeli students. However, the university argues that the administration's demands went beyond addressing antisemitism and attempted to regulate intellectual conditions on campus. The Trump administration had also canceled hundreds of grants on grounds of insufficient action against harassment of Jewish students, threatened Harvard's accreditation status, and sought to bar international students from attending the school.