A US judge on Tuesday ordered President Donald Trump's administration to restore a part of the federal grant funding it recently suspended for the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
US district judge Rita Lin in San Francisco ruled the grant funding suspensions violated an earlier June preliminary injunction where she ordered the National Science Foundation (NSF) to restore dozens of grants it had terminated at UCLA.
The order had blocked the agency from cancelling other grants at the University of California system, of which UCLA is a part.
“NSF's actions violate the preliminary injunction,” Lin, an appointee of Democratic former president Joe Biden, wrote.
The White House and the university had no immediate comment on the ruling.
UCLA said last week the government froze $584m (R10.2bn) in funding. Trump has threatened to cut federal funds for universities over pro-Palestinian student protests against US ally Israel's military assault on Gaza.
The Los Angeles Times newspaper reported the judge's order asked for the restoration of more than a third of the suspended $584m funding.
The University of California said last week it was reviewing a settlement offer by the Trump administration for UCLA in which the university will pay $bn (R17.5bn). It said such a large payment would “devastate” the institution.
The government alleges universities, including UCLA, allowed anti-Semitism during the protests.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, said the government wrongly equates their criticism of Israel's war in Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with anti-Semitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.
Experts have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the Republican president's threats. Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom called the Trump administration's settlement offer a form of extortion.
Large demonstrations took place at UCLA last year. Last month, UCLA agreed to pay more than $6m (R105m) to settle a lawsuit alleging anti-Semitism. It was also sued this year over a 2024 violent mob attack on pro-Palestinian protesters.
Rights advocates note a rise in anti-Semitism, anti-Arab bias and Islamophobia due to conflict in the Middle East. The Trump administration has not announced equivalent probes into Islamophobia.
The government has settled its probes with Columbia University, which agreed to pay more than $220m (R3.8bn), and Brown University, which said it will pay $50m (R877m). The two universities accepted certain government demands. Settlement talks with Harvard University are ongoing.
Reuters
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