A federal judge voiced deep skepticism today of President Trump’s efforts to strip Harvard of billions of dollars in research funding.
The judge, Allison Burroughs, did not issue a ruling during a court hearing today in Boston. But she seemed far more receptive to Harvard’s arguments, suggesting that the school might prevail in its legal battle against the government.
Burroughs, for example, demanded to know how the Trump administration could reasonably tie withdrawal of medical research funding to concerns about the civil rights of Jews. She also appeared bothered by the administration’s hurried approach, suggesting there were potentially “staggering” constitutional consequences if the government could punish a university without due process.
In other Trump administration news:
The administration made public a vast trove of files from the investigation into the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., despite the fierce opposition of his family.
A group of 21 Democratic attorneys general sued the Trump administration over an effort to restrict unauthorized immigrants’ access to federal programs like Head Start.
Trump waded into a decades-old dispute by urging two professional sports teams to reverse their recent name changes.
Deadly shootings highlight the dangers of Gaza’s power vacuum
Two separate episodes of Israeli soldiers firing on Palestinians at aid sites in Gaza over the weekend highlighted the accuracy of what experts have long predicted: that Gaza would descend into anarchy as long as there’s a power vacuum.