Judge Allison Burroughs said the Trump administration used antisemitism as a “smokescreen” to justify retaliation against Harvard.
The ruling revives hopes for hundreds of research projects, though the White House will appeal immediately.
A federal judge in Boston on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration should reverse its decision to cut more than $2.6 billion in research funding for the Ivy-league Harvard University, marking a win for the educational institution in its row with the White House.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs ordered that the funding cuts amounted to unlawful retaliation for Harvard’s refusal to implement changes suggested by the Trump administration in its functioning and policies.
The government had cited the freezes to Harvard’s handling of antisemitism complaints, but Burroughs stated that the university’s federally supported research had little connection to discrimination against Jews.
“A review of the administrative record makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that (the government) used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities,” Burroughs wrote, according to AP. She added that while the US must fight antisemitism, it must also safeguard free speech.
The ruling negated a series of freezes that had escalated into funding cuts as tensions escalated between the Trump administration and Harvard. The administration had also threatened to block foreign students from enrolling and to take away the school’s tax-exempt status.
The ruling would restore the federal funding for Harvard’s research network and multiple projects previously disrupted. However, the outcome remains uncertain, as the government intends to appeal immediately, AP reported.
White House spokeswoman Liz Huston criticised Burroughs, calling her an “activist Obama-appointed judge.”
“To any fair-minded observer, it is clear that Harvard University failed to protect their students from harassment and allowed discrimination to plague their campus for years,” Huston said. “Harvard does not have a constitutional right to taxpayer dollars.”
Harvard President Alan Garber, while welcoming the decision as a validation of the university’s fight for academic freedom, signaled that further challenges may lie ahead.
“Even as we acknowledge the important principles affirmed in today’s ruling, we will continue to assess the implications of the opinion, monitor further legal developments, and be mindful of the changing landscape in which we seek to fulfill our mission,” Garber wrote in a campus message.
Meanwhile, discussions have been underway between Harvard officials and the Trump administration over a potential settlement that could end ongoing investigations and reinstate access to federal funding.
US President Donald Trump has asked Harvard to pay no less than $500 million, though no agreement has yet been reached, even as the administration has struck deals with Columbia and Brown.
Garber had previously asserted that "the University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights," in a letter to the Harvard community, saying that these demands violate the First Amendment rights of the students.
