A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate millions of dollars in federal research funding to UCLA after finding the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) violated a prior court order blocking grant terminations.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled Tuesday that the NSF breached her June 23 temporary restraining order, which prohibited the termination of federal research grants. The order was issued in a class-action lawsuit filed by researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley, and extended to the NSF, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
In her latest decision, Lin found the NSF’s suspension of UCLA research funding between July 30 and Aug. 12 amounted to a termination “in name only.”
“NSF’s indefinite suspensions differ from a termination in name only… NSF may have re-labeled its action a ‘suspension,’ but it is a distinction without a difference in this case,” Lin wrote.
The NSF confirmed to CBS Los Angeles that it had “reinstated the suspended awards to the University of California – Los Angeles.”
Funding Freeze and Allegations
UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk announced on July 31 that the university had lost federal research funding from multiple agencies, including the NSF and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Frenk said federal officials cited “antisemitism and bias” as the reasons for the funding suspension.
On Aug. 6, Frenk updated the campus community, estimating the freeze could impact about $584 million in research funding.
Attorneys for the NSF argued the funding pause was a “suspension,” not a “termination,” and therefore did not violate Lin’s earlier order. Lin rejected that reasoning, stating the practical effect was the same.
Court Compliance and Next Steps
Lin ordered the NSF to restore all grants suspended during the July 30–Aug. 12 period and gave the agency until Aug. 19 to submit a compliance status report.
The University of California system, though not a party to the lawsuit, issued a statement emphasizing the importance of NSF support.
“While we have not had an opportunity to review the court’s order and were not party to the suit, restoration of National Science Foundation funds is critical to research the University of California performs on behalf of California and the nation,” the statement said.
The White House and UCLA have not yet publicly commented on the ruling.
