A far-left judge dead-set on protecting Harvard University at all costs blocked the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze, claiming the move to be unconstitutional.
District Judge Allison Burroughs, an appointee of former President Barack Obama serving in Massachusetts, issued the ruling Wednesday. She stated that the Trump administration’s freezes of almost $2.2 billion were illegally imposed because they are fundamentally attacking Harvard’s right to free speech, and that they were essentially punitive because Harvard was already taking steps to fix the problems the administration took issue with.
One of the Trump administration’s chief complaints about the school was that it had an unsatisfactory response to what the U.S. Department of Education said were instances of “antisemitism” on Harvard’s campus, violating Title VI. Burroughs said that Harvard was “wrong to tolerate hateful behavior for as long as it did,” but that the end of fighting “combatting antisemitism cannot be accomplished on the back of the First Amendment.”
“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. “We must fight against antisemitism, but we equally need to protect our rights, including our right to free speech, and neither goal should nor needs to be sacrificed on the altar of the other.’”
The other primary complaint was that the school uses racial preferences under a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideology. As The Federalist has reported, the school has made significant strides toward maintaining racial preferences while attempting to hide it from public scrutiny.
Ironically, Burroughs is the same judge who allowed Harvard to continue its race-based admissions policy that was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. She is also the same judge who blocked the Trump administration’s move to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students, thinking she had more control over U.S. immigration policy than the president of the United States.
“In an unsurprising turn of events, the same Obama-appointed judge that ruled in favor of Harvard’s illegal race-based admissions practices — which was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court — just ruled against the Trump Administration’s efforts to hold Harvard accountable for rampant discrimination on campus,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said. “The Trump Administration is fully committed to appealing this erroneous decision and will ensure that new taxpayer funding is not invested at any university that steadfastly refuses to uphold civil rights for all students.”
The Trump administration has been focused on going after Harvard for months to get it to comply with civil rights law, threatening federal funding the entire time. Harvard has in turn refused to “surrender our academic independence,” as school President Alan Garber said, and maintained fighting each move by the federal government in court.
“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 said of Burroughs’ most recent ruling. “We will continue to dedicate ourselves to expanding, disseminating, and applying knowledge, knowing that our successes will make a real difference for individuals across the country and around the world.”
Left-wing judges in Massachusetts are often willing to go along with Harvard, but it is unclear how an appeal to a higher court will go for the school.
Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.