A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Trump Administration violated the law when it blocked Harvard University from $2 billion in federal grants because of the school’s handling of antisemitism on campus.
US District Allison Burroughs, an Obama appointee, said Trump violated Harvard’s First Amendment rights when it froze $ 2 billion in federal grants earlier this year.
Judge Burroughs said the Trump Administration used antisemitism on Harvard’s campus as a “smokescreen for targeted, ideologically-motivated assault” on the country’s premier university.
“In fact, 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, and did so in a way that runs afoul of the APA, the First Amendment and Title VI,” Judge Burroughs wrote, according to CBS News. “Further, their actions have jeopardized decades of research and the welfare of all those who could stand to benefit from that research, as well as reflect a disregard for the rights protected by the Constitution and federal statutes.”
Earlier this year, Harvard filed a lawsuit against nine federal agencies in the Trump Administration after the federal government froze more than $2.2 billion in multi-year research grants and $60 million in contracts.
The move was led by a coalition of executive departments, including Defense, Education, and Health and Human Services.
On April 11, the Department of Health and Human Services, along with other federal agencies, issued Harvard a letter demanding sweeping reforms if it wished to continue receiving federal research funding. The demands included:
- Shuttering of all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs;
- A university-wide “viewpoint audit” to eliminate leftist ideological monocultures;
- Forced hiring and admissions practices to ensure conservative representation;
- Defunding and disbanding of radical pro-Hamas student groups;
- And complete transparency on foreign funding sources.
These measures, according to the government, were necessary to combat antisemitism and restore ideological balance in an institution long captured by left-wing radicals.
Rather than comply, Harvard fired back with a lawsuit claiming the federal government had no right to interfere in its affairs — an ironic move for a school that has historically lobbied for greater federal oversight on everything from speech to climate policy.
And of course, an Obama judge sided with Harvard.
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