Lin had ordered the Trump administration in August to restore part of the suspended federal funding to UCLA.
The Trump administration has cut or threatened to withhold federal funds to universities over their handling of protests against Israel’s assault on Gaza. The government says universities, including UCLA, allowed displays of antisemitism during the protests.
Pro-Palestinian protesters, including some Jewish groups, say their criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories should not be characterized as antisemitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights should not be equated with extremism.
A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday to restore frozen federal grants to the University of California, Los Angeles, a court filing, opens new tabshowed.
In August, UCLA said the Trump administration froze funding of $584 million after the federal government reprimanded the school for its handling of pro-Palestinian protests.
Lin, a judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, said in her order the indefinite suspensions of grants from the National Institutes of Health were likely “arbitrary and capricious.”
Lin ordered that research funds from NIH, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Transportation be restored as part of her preliminary injunction. Her injunction was preliminary as the broader legal case proceeded.
Labor unions, faculties and students in the University of California education system, of which UCLA is a part, sued the Trump administration last week over the freezing of federal funds and other actions that they say aim to stifle academic freedom.
CONCERNS OF FREE SPEECH
Rights groups say Trump’s actions hurt free speech.
The University of California, Berkeley, another campus in the University of California system, said earlier this month it provided information on 160 faculty members and students to the government as part of an investigation.
University of California President James Milliken says the university system was facing one of the gravest threats in its history. It receives more than $17 billion each year in federal support.
The Trump administration has also faced other legal roadblocks in its funding freeze attempts. A federal judge ruled earlier this month it had unlawfully terminated over $2 billion in grants for Harvard University.
The government in July settled federal investigations with Columbia University, which agreed to pay more than $220 million to the government, and Brown University, which said it will pay $50 million to support local workforce development. Both accepted certain government demands.
Large demonstrations at UCLA last year included a violent attack by a pro-Israeli mob on a pro-Palestinian encampment. The school unveilednew protest rules on Friday, opens new tab that formalized interim policies put in place in September 2024.
