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A U.S. judge has invalidated President Donald Trump’s attempt to cut over $2 billion in funding to Harvard University, dismissing it as a political maneuver disguised as a stance against anti-Semitism and bias within the Ivy League school.
Harvard filed a lawsuit in April to recover the funds that had been frozen. The government justified the cuts, claiming Harvard hadn’t adequately safeguarded Jewish and Israeli students, especially during protests related to Israel’s conflict in Gaza.
The reduction in funding led Harvard to halt hiring and put major research projects, particularly in public health and medicine, on hold — setbacks experts warn could threaten lives across the U.S.
Judge Allison Burroughs of the Boston federal court stated that the funding freezes and termination notices violated the First Amendment, ruling to overturn them. She declared, “The Court vacates and sets aside the Freeze Orders and Termination Letters as violative of the First Amendment,” and confirmed that all such actions taken since April 14, 2025, are invalid.
While Harvard’s own court documents acknowledged a presence of anti-Semitism on campus, the judge pointed out that the administration’s funding cuts were largely unrelated to the problem.
“Harvard has admitted that anti-Semitism has been a concern recently and could have handled it better,” Burroughs wrote. “However, the evidence shows little connection between the research disruptions caused by the grants and the anti-Semitism issue.”
She further accused the Trump administration of using anti-Semitism as a distraction or pretext for a targeted, ideological attack on elite universities, suggesting the funding actions were part of a broader effort to undermine higher education institutions.
Both Harvard and the American Association of University Professors challenged the administration’s measures in court, and their cases were consolidated. Trump, aiming to move the case to the Court of Federal Claims, is seeking to change the jurisdiction from the Boston federal court near Harvard’s Cambridge campus.
The ongoing political conflict reflects Trump’s broader criticisms of top-tier universities, which he claims lack transparency and are dominated by liberal perspectives and anti-conservative biases. Harvard faces scrutiny not only over ideological issues but also over its ability to host international students, who contributed 27% of its enrollment during the 2024-2025 academic year and are considered a significant revenue source.
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