BOSTON, Massachusetts — Harvard University has won a major legal battle against former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration after a federal judge ruled that the White House unlawfully terminated billions of dollars in research funding.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs declared that the government had no legal right to cut off roughly $2.2 billion in grants, marking a significant victory for the Ivy League school.
For months, Harvard had been at the center of Trump’s aggressive push to use federal funding as leverage against universities he accused of harboring antisemitism and “radical left” ideologies.
Other top universities, including Columbia University, agreed to costly settlements with the administration. Columbia, for instance, restored federal funding only after paying $220 million. But Harvard refused to bow to pressure, setting the stage for a legal showdown.
Trump himself made the conflict deeply personal. In an August 26 Cabinet meeting, he demanded Harvard pay “nothing less than $500 million” as part of a settlement. “They’ve been very bad,” he told Education Secretary Linda McMahon, instructing her bluntly: “Don’t negotiate.”
The administration’s actions against Harvard went beyond funding cuts. It canceled hundreds of research grants, sought to bar international students from studying there, threatened the school’s accreditation, and even accused Harvard of violating federal civil rights law.
The spark for these moves came in the wake of pro-Palestinian protests following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s war in Gaza. While Harvard acknowledged that Jewish and Israeli students faced “vicious and reprehensible” harassment on campus, it insisted that the government’s demands crossed constitutional lines.
In April, an administration task force sent Harvard a letter demanding sweeping changes: altering governance, restructuring admissions, ensuring ideological “balance” in hiring, and even shutting down certain academic programs. Harvard rejected the demands, arguing that the White House was unlawfully trying to control the university’s intellectual freedom.
Judge Burroughs agreed. She ruled that the government’s retaliation—cutting off funding critical to medical and scientific research—violated the First Amendment.
This isn’t the first time Burroughs has sided with Harvard. In a separate case, she already blocked the administration’s attempt to prevent the university from hosting international students, who make up about a quarter of its population.
For Harvard, this ruling represents not just a financial reprieve but also a powerful affirmation of academic freedom in the face of political pressure.
