Federal Grants Halted By President Donald Trump May Soon Be Reinstated: Harvard

Last Updated:September 12, 2025, 13:13 IST

Harvard University said that the reinstatement notices have started arriving from several federal agencies, but so far no payments have been received

The Trump administration started cutting federal research grants from Harvard in April after the Ivy League school rebuffed a list of wide-ranging demands from the government in a federal investigation into campus antisemitism

Months after US President Donald Trump cut federal research grants from Harvard University, the Ivy League school has said that it has started receiving notices that many such grants will be reinstated following a federal judge’s ruling that the cuts were illegal.

On September 3, US District Judge Allison Burroughs rejected the administration’s argument that it was targeting the university due to antisemitism on the school’s campus.

“A review of the administrative record makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that defendants used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities,” wrote Burroughs, an appointee of former President Barack Obama.

“Their actions have jeopardized decades of research and the welfare of all those who could stand to benefit from that research, as well as reflect a disregard for the rights protected by the Constitution and federal statutes,” Burroughs added.

A week after the judgement, CNN quoted Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton as saying that the reinstatement notices have started arriving from several federal agencies, but so far no payments have been received. “Harvard is monitoring funding receipts closely,” he said on Wednesday.

According to CNN, the Trump administration started cutting federal research grants from Harvard in April after the Ivy League school rebuffed a list of wide-ranging demands from the government in a federal investigation into campus antisemitism. Harvard challenged the cuts in court, calling them illegal government retaliation.

Trump had previously said that he wanted Harvard to pay $500 million as part of any deal to restore funding. “They’ve been very bad,” Trump told Education Secretary Linda McMahon. “Don’t negotiate.”

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