A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully suspended over $2.2 billion in federal research funding to Harvard University.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs found that the funding freeze, imposed in April 2025 following Harvard’s refusal to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes and vet students for ideological biases, was an illegal retaliation in violation of the First Amendment.
The judge highlighted that the administration acted before investigating claims of antisemitism on campus, describing the freeze as “arbitrary and, at worst, pretextual.”
Only one of the ten funding conditions issued by the government addressed antisemitism, while others pertained to who could teach, be admitted, and what could be taught—matters relating to academic freedom. Burroughs stated the antisemitism claims were “a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.”
The funding halt disrupted over 900 critical research projects, involving studies on tuberculosis, astronaut radiation exposure, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and models aiding Veterans Administration emergency physicians treating suicidal patients. Although acknowledging Harvard’s issues with antisemitism, the judge noted there was “little connection” between the funding freeze and those concerns.
Harvard President Alan Garber welcomed the decision, saying it affirmed the university’s First Amendment rights and defended academic freedom. He asserted that “no government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”
The White House criticised the ruling, with spokesperson Liz Huston calling the judge “an activist Obama-appointed judge,” and asserting Harvard was not constitutionally entitled to taxpayer funding. The administration declared it would appeal the verdict, confident in eventually holding Harvard accountable.