Judge orders Trump administration to restore frozen federal grants for UCLA

FILE - Students walk past Royce Hall at the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

WASHINGTON: A federal judge on Monday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to restore frozen federal grants to the University of California, Los Angeles, according to a court filing.
In August, UCLA said the Trump administration froze $584 million of its funding after the federal government reprimanded the school over its handling of pro-Palestinian protests.
The Los Angeles Times and Politico said US District Judge Rita Lin’s ruling ordered that more than $500 million in funding be restored to the university. Lin had previously ordered the Trump administration 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 federal government has said that universities, including UCLA, allowed displays of antisemitism during the protests. Pro-Palestinian protesters, including some Jewish groups, have said that their criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories should not be characterized as antisemitism. In addition, they have said their advocacy for Palestinian rights should not be equated with extremism.
Lin, a judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, said in her order that the indefinite suspensions of grants from the National Institutes of Health were likely “arbitrary and capricious.”