Federal judge denies Trump admin another extension in Harvard funding lawsuit
A federal judge denied the Trump administration’s additional appeal in its case against Harvard University, despite the federal officials citing the government shutdown as grounds for a delay, according to a Thursday decision.
While the Trump administration lawyers asked Judge Allison D. Burroughs to delay the deadline until the end of the government shutdown, she only partially agreed on Oct. 2 .
She allowed the extension until Oct. 17 but said the federal government would need to request another extension.
Harvard agreed to the Trump administration’s move for a stay both times, but the faculty union in a parallel case opposed it during the appeals for extensions.
“Therefore, although we greatly regret any disruption caused to the court and the other litigants, the government hereby moves for a stay of the deadline to file a status report in this case until Department of Justice attorneys are permitted to resume their usual civil litigation functions,” the Trump administration lawyers wrote in the first appeal in October.
While Burroughs ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the university’s nearly $3 billion in federal funding cuts last month, the case is awaiting a final judgment. Harvard and the federal government still must agree on how to implement the decision. Without doing so, Burroughs’ judgment isn’t finalized and the Trump administration wouldn’t be able to appeal her decision.
At the same time, due to the court order, federal funding is beginning to flow back to Harvard.
In a Sept. 19 joint filing, Harvard and the Trump administration said they were working to implement the judge’s decision but asked for any status reports to be delayed until Oct. 3, according to court filings. This was granted.
Since Burroughs’ decision, government pressure against Harvard hasn’t let up.
The Trump administration recommended that Harvard be excluded from federal funding to “protect the public interest,” and the U.S. Committee on Education and Workforce also demanded that Harvard provide more information as part of its ongoing investigation into campus antisemitism.
President Donald Trump claimed his administration reached a $500 million deal with the university , but quickly reversed course and told reporters that the federal government was “close to finalizing” the agreement.
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