Federal judge orders restoration of hundreds of research grants for UCLA by Trump administration
In a significant development, U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin of the Northern District of California has ordered the National Science Foundation (NSF) to restore around 300 grants that were suspended at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The judge's ruling, which affects approximately $584 million in funding, was made in response to the Trump administration's alleged arbitrary and capricious actions in violating federal law.
The preliminary injunction, issued in June 2025, initially required the NSF to reinstate 114 grants it had terminated at the University of California, based on lawyers for University of California researchers' arguments that the grant terminations were unjustified and violated federal law. Judge Lin's recent order emphasized that the distinction between suspension and termination is negligible in practice, as both actions have the same effect on researchers.
However, the ruling does not apply to the 500 suspended National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants at UCLA, as they were not covered in Judge Lin's initial order. The restoration of the NSF grants is seen as a major reversal of the Trump administration's efforts to suspend these grants.
Judge Lin clarified that the term "termination," as used in the preliminary Injunction, includes circumstances where grant funding is cut off on a long-term or indefinite basis. Lin's order comes after the Trump administration accused UCLA of failure to "promote a research environment free of antisemitism." However, the administration's arguments were disputed by UC Berkeley law dean Erwin Chemerinsky, who represents the researchers in oral arguments. Chemerinsky argued that the UCLA cuts amount to "exactly the kind of en masse terminations that the court enjoined previously."
The UC system is involved in a high-stakes conflict with the Trump administration over alleged discrimination in admissions against white and Asian Americans. The White House has indicated it is ready to battle with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has threatened to sue over UCLA grant freezes, with over $584 million in federal funds at stake. The Department of Justice, which represents the government in the case, has declined to comment on the judge's order to restore the grants.
UCLA professor Aradna Tripati expects two suspended grants to be restored as a result of Lin's order, one covering environmental research in the Southwest and the other training veterans who want to work in STEM fields. The federal government has until Aug. 19 to update the court on whether it has complied with the order to restore the grants. The Trump administration has asked for a $1-billion fine and a host of additional concessions to resolve federal antisemitism findings against UCLA, but the UC Board of Regents has not decided whether it will sue over the fine and broader cuts.
- The National Science Foundation (NSF) has been ordered by U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin to restore around 300 grants that were suspended at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), totaling approximately $584 million in funding.
- The Trump administration's alleged arbitrary and capricious actions in violating federal law led to Judge Lin's ruling to reinstate the NSF grants.
- Judge Lin emphasized that the distinction between suspension and termination is negligible, as both actions have the same effect on researchers.
- The restoration of the NSF grants is seen as a major reversal of the Trump administration's efforts to suspend these grants, but the ruling does not apply to the 500 suspended National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants at UCLA.
- UCLA professor Aradna Tripati expects two suspended grants, one covering environmental research in the Southwest and the other training veterans who want to work in STEM fields, to be restored as a result of Lin's order.
- The UC system is involved in a high-stakes conflict with the Trump administration over alleged discrimination in admissions against white and Asian Americans, with over $584 million in federal funds at stake.
- The Trump administration has asked for a $1-billion fine and a host of additional concessions to resolve federal antisemitism findings against UCLA, but the UC Board of Regents has not decided whether it will sue over the fine and broader cuts.
