A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from imposing fines or withholding federal funding from the University of California over allegations of discrimination, including claims of antisemitism.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco issued a preliminary injunction Friday, ruling that the administration cannot act without providing notice to affected faculty and conducting hearings, along with meeting other procedural requirements.
The Trump administration had demanded that UCLA pay $1.2 billion to restore previously frozen research funding and maintain eligibility for future grants.
The administration claimed the school allowed antisemitism on campus, marking UCLA as the first public university targeted for alleged civil rights violations.
However, private institutions like Columbia University had previously faced similar funding freezes.
In her ruling, Judge Lin cited evidence from labor unions and faculty groups showing that the administration engaged in “a concerted campaign to purge ‘woke,’ ‘left,’ and ‘socialist’ viewpoints from our country’s leading universities.”
She wrote that the president and vice president had repeatedly announced a strategy of initiating civil rights investigations as justification for cutting off funding, aiming to coerce universities into changing their ideological positions, per the New York Post.
Lin emphasized that this “precise playbook” was being executed at the University of California.
Lin also found that the administration’s actions amounted to “coercive and retaliatory conduct” that violated both the First and Tenth Amendments. Her injunction prevents the federal government from canceling funding without due process, including notifying faculty and holding a hearing.
She also barred conditioning federal funds on compliance with measures that would infringe on constitutional rights, citing efforts to screen international students for “anti-Western” or “anti-American” views, restrict research and teaching, and impose definitions of male and female.
The injunction remains in effect indefinitely. Messages sent to the White House and Department of Justice were not immediately returned.
University of California President James B. Milliken warned that the proposed $1.2 billion fine would devastate the UC system, which is widely regarded as among the top public universities in the nation.
The university emphasized its commitment to protecting governance, academic freedom, and its educational mission.
The administration had proposed settlement terms requiring UCLA to comply with federal views on gender identity and implement screening procedures for foreign students deemed likely to engage in disruptive or antisemitic behavior.
Similar agreements had been reached with other institutions, including a $50 million settlement with Brown University and a $221 million settlement with Columbia University.
Judge Lin noted that faculty and staff had reported feeling pressured to avoid teaching or researching topics that might be considered too “left” or “woke” in light of the administration’s actions.
Her injunction protects the universities from being coerced into adopting policies that violate constitutional rights while these civil rights investigations proceed.
The Trump administration has launched investigations into numerous colleges, asserting that diversity, equity, and inclusion programs discriminate against White and Asian American students.
President Donald Trump has criticized elite universities as dominated by liberal ideologies and claims of antisemitism, making this legal dispute a key flashpoint in his broader push to reshape higher education funding and policy.
