A federal judge has sided with Harvard University in its battle against the Trump administration, ruling that the White House improperly froze nearly $3 billion in research funding.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, in an 84-page decision issued Sept. 3, rejected the administration’s argument that its actions were about combating antisemitism on Harvard’s campus. Instead, she suggested the real motive was political.
“It is 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,” Burroughs wrote.
The decision is a major win for Harvard, which was the only school willing to take the administration to court over the cuts. While Trump officials framed the dispute as being about campus antisemitism, Harvard argued that the real issue was academic freedom and political interference in higher education.
Judge Burroughs made clear that fighting antisemitism is important but said that doesn’t give the government license to trample on free speech or cut off critical scientific research. “Harvard is taking steps to combat antisemitism and seems willing to do more if needed,” she noted.
The case has been highly charged politically. Back in July, during a hearing, Trump blasted Burroughs on Truth Social, calling her a “TOTAL DISASTER” and vowing to appeal if he lost. After the ruling, Harvard President Alan M. Garber called the decision a strong affirmation of “academic freedom, critical scientific research, and the core principles of American higher education.”
The White House, however, quickly condemned the ruling. Spokesperson Liz Huston told USA Today that Harvard had “failed to protect their students from harassment” and insisted the university had no constitutional right to federal dollars. “We will immediately move to appeal this egregious decision,” Huston said.
The fight stems from the Trump administration’s decision to freeze or end billions in federal grants and contracts with Harvard. Officials demanded changes such as new audits, “merit-based” hiring policies, and an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. When Harvard refused, the administration pulled the plug on funding.
Burroughs, however, found little evidence that the move had anything to do with stopping antisemitism. She pointed out that no investigation was conducted into whether any labs or researchers were involved in antisemitic behavior. In fact, she warned the funding freeze could hurt the very people the administration claimed to be protecting.
Harvard has said the loss of funding would have caused serious harm to both the university and its researchers, many of whom rely on federal grants for groundbreaking work in fields like medicine, science, and technology.
For now, Harvard has its funding restored. But with the Trump administration promising an appeal, the legal and political battle is far from over. Photo by Elisa.rolle, Wikimedia commons.
