Harvard and Trump admin await judge’s decision as deadline ticks closer
As Harvard University is in talks with the Trump administration over a potential deal or settlement , the university is waiting with bated breath to hear the decision of a federal judge over canceled government funding for the university .
The institution requested that Judge Allison D. Burroughs make a decision before September 3, when much of the damage from the Trump administration's billions in research grant and other funding cuts would be irreversible .
Burroughs has yet to make a decision since a court date on July 21 during oral arguments, when she said she will get an opinion out as soon as possible.
However, during the court date, she expressed her uncertainty with the Trump administration's actions, calling the lawyer's arguments "a little bit mind-boggling."
During the hearing, Burroughs pushed back on whether the federal government could cancel grants across the institution en masse without substantially proving that researchers or labs had engaged in antisemitism.
She added that the "consequences of that in terms of the constitutional law are staggering to me."
President Donald Trump, for his part, took to Truth Social to take aim at Burroughs the same day, calling her a "TOTAL DISASTER" and an "automatic 'loss' for the People of our Country."
He also signaled that the federal government would appeal her decision if she sides with Harvard. Legal experts believe the case could wind up going as far as the Supreme Court.
Harvard's second lawsuit over the federal government's attacks against international students is more settled.
Burroughs granted two preliminary injunctions related to the case in late June. One preliminary injunction rejects a Trump administration attempt to ban Harvard foreign students from entering the country to study . This decision was appealed by the Trump administration and will now go to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
The other preliminary injunction allows Harvard to host international students . No appeal has been filed on that decision.
What has happened between the Trump admin and Harvard?
The Trump administration has gone after Harvard since April, cutting billions of dollars.
Demanding an overhaul of Harvard's leadership structure, admissions and hiring — the federal government warned the school could risk losing $9 billion in funding.
Harvard rejected those demands, stating they seek to "invade university freedoms long recognized by the Supreme Court."
Then the fight over funding occurred.
It began with a $2.2 billion funding freeze on April 14 after the school refused to comply with the federal administration's demands.
In response, Harvard filed a lawsuit on April 21, arguing that its constitutional rights had been violated by the government's threats to pull billions of dollars in funding.
Harvard President Garber also signed onto a letter with hundreds of other university presidents pushing back against "government overreach and political interference" by the Trump administration.
At the beginning of May, the Trump administration said it would bar Harvard University from acquiring new federal grants while the school continues to refuse to comply with the administration's demands for change on its campus.
A few days later, eight federal agencies cut $450 million in grants and then the United States Department of Health and Human Services cut $60 million in grants from the university.
Harvard went on to amend its lawsuit against the Trump administration.
On May 16, a wave of nearly one thousand federal research grant terminations began , amounting to more than $2.4 billion, according to an analysis by Nature .
In response, Harvard established a new Presidential Priorities Fund, asking for donations in the midst of federal cuts.
Some of Harvard's schools, including its School of Public Health, took to social media to ask for donations after nearly every single federal grant had been terminated.
Other investigations and threats have been made against the institution, some of which have focused on threatening the university's ability to enroll international students.
This prompted Harvard to open a second lawsuit against the Trump administration over its ability to accept international students.
Most recently, the State Department opened an investigation into Harvard University's use of international visas.
The Department of Homeland Security has also subpoenaed Harvard over its failure to provide documents concerning the misconduct or criminal actions of foreign students.
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