Federal funding will be flowing back to UCLA after months of disruption, with the Trump administration restoring nearly all of the National Institutes of Health grants it froze this summer under accusations of antisemitism at the university.
Justice Department attorneys reportedly told the court Monday evening that the NIH has reinstated all but nine of the nearly 500 suspended grants, and that the actual number of unresolved cases may be even lower. The update followed a ruling last week from U.S. District Judge Rita Lin requiring the administration to return the money.
The decision is the latest in a series of reversals for the White House, which in July abruptly blocked more than $500 million in UCLA research funding by freezing roughly 800 grants from both the NIH and the National Science Foundation. A month later, under a separate court order, the NSF restored about 300 suspended grants.
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The freeze had been justified by federal officials as a response to what they called UCLA’s tolerance of antisemitism, even as the campus had been working to carry out recommendations from a university task force created to address bias against Jews.
The restoration of grants represents a major relief for UCLA scientists, whose work spans Alzheimer’s treatments, cardiovascular health in rural communities, robotics education, and other projects critical to the national research enterprise. These grants also support graduate students, providing both income and training for the next generation of academics.
However, the legal battle is far from over. UCLA and the broader UC system remain under pressure from Trump’s demand for a $1.2 billion settlement tied to a wide range of allegations, including claims of antisemitism. A faculty and staff coalition has sued to stop him from pursuing that settlement.
The controversy has provoked outrage across the UC community. In an open letter signed by more than 600 Jewish faculty, students, staff, and alumni, critics argued that stripping funding does nothing to protect Jewish students.
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“Cutting off hundreds of millions of research funds will do nothing to make UCLA safer for Jews nor diminish antisemitism in the world,” the letter declared.
Judge Lin, who has overseen multiple UC-related funding disputes, has issued a series of injunctions since June forcing agencies to reinstate blocked research money. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld several of her preliminary rulings, which have restored projects in science, the humanities, and environmental research.
Her most recent order went beyond UCLA, requiring the Departments of Defense and Transportation to also return dozens of UC grants. Government attorneys have asked for more time, until October 10, to reinstate the defense-related projects, but confirmed that all such grants will ultimately be restored. Lin is also presiding over the settlement case itself, which remains unresolved.
READ ALSO: Judge orders Trump administration to reinstate withheld NSF research grants to UCLA
