Judge Reverses Trump Admin’s Harvard Funding Freeze

The judge questioned the Trump administration’s motives in its attempts to combat anti-Semitism.

Harvard banners hang in front of Widener Library during the 374th Harvard Commencement in Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Mass., on May 29, 2025. Rick Friedman/AFP via Getty Images

A federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze more than $2 billion of Harvard University’s funding, holding that the government violated the First Amendment through its efforts to combat anti-Semitism.

In a ruling on Sept. 3, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs cast doubt on the administration’s motives in freezing the funding, suggesting that the government retaliated over the university’s refusal to comply with multiple demands the Justice Department made after an investigation into anti-Semitism on campus.