Judge rules Trump unlawfully cancelled Harvard's $2.2B research grants

A federal judge has ruled that US President Donald Trump’s administration unlawfully terminated about $2.2 billion in research grants awarded to Harvard University, saying the move violated the school’s free-speech rights.

The decision by US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston on Wednesday marks a major victory for Harvard in its standoff with the White House, which has targeted the Ivy League school in a broader campaign over pro-Palestine protests.

Harvard sued after the administration cancelled hundreds of grants, arguing officials were retaliating against it for refusing demands to cede control over who it hires and who it teaches.

The university said this amounted to unconstitutional interference in academic freedom.

Burroughs, an appointee of former president Barack Obama, said while the administration was right to combat antisemitism, its true aim was to pressure Harvard into compliance with political demands.

"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," she wrote.

The judge barred the administration from terminating or freezing further funding, from withholding payments on existing grants, or refusing to award new ones.

The ruling comes after Trump renewed his call for Harvard to settle with the government and pay "nothing less than $500 million."

He has previously accused the school of being "very bad" and failing to tackle antisemitism.

Crackdown on universities

Trump’s chokehold on Harvard is part of a larger campaign to crack down on universities and students over pro-Palestine protests on US campuses.

He started with Columbia, which ignited a wave of pro-Palestine protests across US campuses, cancelling $400 million in federal funding to the university.

The university ultimately yielded to his pressure, announcing sweeping policy changes, including campus protest policies.

Columbia University agreed in July to pay $220 million to restore research money withheld.

He later froze federal funding for both Cornell University and Northwestern University, among others, for allowing pro-Palestine protests.

As for Harvard, the university rejected Trump's demands in early April and later sued the administration for suspending around $2.3 billion in funding.

The administration has also sought to block international students from enrolling at Harvard, threatened its accreditation status, and accused it of violating federal civil rights law.

Harvard alone produced 162 Nobel prize winners.

Burroughs has separately barred officials from halting the university’s ability to host foreign students, who make up about a quarter of its enrollment.

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Source: TRT