Obama Judge Casts Doubt On Trump’s $2.6 Billion Harvard Funding Freeze

A federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama appeared deeply skeptical on Monday of the Trump administration’s move to strip Harvard University of $2.6 billion in research funding – suggesting that the school may prevail in its legal battle against the government.

After a two-hour hearing in her Boston courtroom, Judge Allison D. Burroughs did not issue a ruling – however she did seem receptive to Harvard’s arguments. Burroughs fired a barrage of pointed questions at the lone DOJ attorney – demanding to know things such as how the administration could reasonably tie funding cuts to concerns over the civil rights of Jews.

She also suggested that there were potentially „staggering” constitutional consequences if the government can punish universities at will without due process.

As the Epoch Times notes further, the Justice Department argued that the government was well within its rights to terminate funding streams to Harvard. The university, it also said, brought the case in a federal district court when it should have brought it in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which typically handles contract-related disputes.

Tension inside and outside the courthouse seemed to underscore the high stakes alleged by both sides. In his rebuttal, Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik, a Harvard alumnus, got choked up while discussing the importance of the university and the concern about anti-Semitism on campus.

At the entrance to the Joseph Moakley federal courthouse, pro-Harvard protesters could be seen with signs reading “Opposing Genocide Is Not Anti-Semitism,” “Defend Academic Freedom,” and “Resist Tyranny.”

The hearing came alongside a related trial in which a group of university professors alleged the Trump administration was chilling college professors’ speech with high-profile arrests of pro-Palestinian advocates like Mahmoud Khalil.

At issue on July 21 was whether Harvard’s claims about the First Amendment allowed it to bring the case before Burroughs despite the dispute involving contracts and money.

Steven Lehotsky, who represented Harvard, alleged that the administration had engaged in a “blatant, unrepentant” violation of the First Amendment. The Trump administration, he said, gave the university an “offer we couldn’t refuse” with its demands on the university.

Velchik alleged that the government would have canceled Harvard’s contracts regardless of how the university responded to its demands. Besides, he said, issues surrounding the First Amendment could still be handled in the Court of Federal Claims and should be, because the case was primarily about money.