A federal judge has delivered a significant blow to the Trump administration, ordering the restoration of millions in National Science Foundation (NSF) grants withheld from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin ruled late Tuesday that the administration’s suspension of the grants violated her June injunction, which barred the NSF from cutting funding without clear, specific justifications.
The decision follows a contentious legal battle sparked by the Trump administration’s freeze of $584 million in federal grants to UCLA, including roughly $101 million from the NSF across 306 research projects. The cuts, part of a broader campaign targeting universities deemed misaligned with the administration’s agenda, were labeled “arbitrary and capricious” by Lin in her earlier ruling. On July 30, the NSF issued new suspension letters, citing vague reasons such as grants no longer aligning with “program goals” or unelaborated allegations of racism, antisemitism, and issues with transgender athlete policies at UCLA.
In Tuesday’s hearing, the administration argued the cuts were “suspensions” rather than “terminations,” a distinction Lin rejected as mere semantics. “NSF’s indefinite suspensions differ from a termination in name only,” she wrote, emphasizing that the agency’s explanations mirrored the deficient rationales previously struck down. Lin ordered the NSF to reinstate the affected grants by August 19, with a mandate to report compliance or provide reasons for non-compliance.
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UCLA welcomed the ruling, stating, “Restoration of National Science Foundation funds is critical to research the University of California performs on behalf of California and the Nation.” The decision impacts only NSF grants, leaving hundreds of other suspended grants from agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy unaffected for now.
The funding freeze coincided with the administration’s demand for a $1 billion settlement from UCLA to resolve allegations of antisemitism on campus, part of a wider effort to pressure academic institutions. UCLA, the first public university targeted in this campaign, faces ongoing scrutiny, with the Justice Department claiming violations of civil rights laws. The university’s researchers, backed by attorneys like UC Berkeley’s Claudia Polsky, hailed the ruling as a victory against politically motivated cuts, ensuring critical research can continue.
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