From The Hill: A federal judge invalidated the Trump administration’s freeze of $2.2 billion worth of federal grants to Harvard University, handing the school a major legal victory Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs restored the funding after Harvard and employee groups sued, agreeing it ran afoul of constitutional free speech protections and federal law.
“Defendants and the President are right to combat antisemitism and to use all lawful means to do so. Harvard was wrong to tolerate hateful behavior for as long as it did,” Burroughs wrote in her 84-page ruling.
“The record here, however, does not reflect that fighting antisemitism was Defendants’ true aim in acting against Harvard and, even if it were, combatting antisemitism cannot be accomplished on the back of the First Amendment,” she continued.
Burroughs admitted in her ruling that “Harvard was wrong to tolerate hateful behavior for as long as it did” but then claimed the federal government “used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.”
The government’s actions violated the First Amendment, Civil Rights Act and Administrative Procedure Act, and “jeopardized decades of research,” Burroughs claimed.
ABOUT THIS JUDGE: U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, 64, serves in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She was nominated by president Barack Obama in July 2014, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2014. She is also known for her order putting a hold on President Donald Trump’s travel ban in January 2017.
BREAKING: Harvard mostly wins (for now) in its lawsuit, preventing funding cuts. Even in its win, the Judge has harsh words for Harvard “tolerat[ing] behavior for as long as it did.” Time for the Normal Appellate Process to work! pic.twitter.com/zlZn8rUXoC
— Eric W. (@EWess92) September 3, 2025
BREAKING:
A federal judge issues an injunction BLOCKING the Trump admin from freezing Harvard’s funding, calling the antisemitism excuse “a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.”
Doc https://t.co/A7yPrjVyzL pic.twitter.com/xBMmOrusnq
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) September 3, 2025
READ MORE from The Hill.
#BREAKING: A judge invalidates the Trump administration’s Harvard funding freeze https://t.co/OHHM7bdCGU
— The Hill (@thehill) September 3, 2025
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