Judge Reverses Trump-Era Grant Cuts at Harvard

A federal judge in Boston on Wednesday ordered the reversal of the Trump administration's freeze and termination of billions of dollars in research grants to Harvard University, ruling that the government unlawfully retaliated against the university for rejecting White House demands and violated federal law and the Constitution. U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs vacated funding freezes and terminations issued on or after April 14, 2025, in an 84 page opinion handed down in the case brought by Harvard.

Burroughs, an appointee of President Barack Obama, wrote that while Harvard has been "plagued" by antisemitism in recent years and should have done more to address it, there was little connection between antisemitism and the research targeted by the grant actions. She said a review of the administrative record made it difficult to conclude anything other than that defendants "used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault" on premier universities and that the actions ran afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act, the First Amendment and Title VI. The judge added that courts must act to safeguard academic freedom and free speech and to...