Harvard Gets Universities' Backing in Fighting Fund Freeze

A group of 18 leading US research universities, including Princeton, MIT, Caltech and Johns Hopkins, has asked a federal judge for permission to file legal arguments in support of Harvard University in its high-stakes showdown with the Trump administration over more than US$2 billion (S$2.58 billion) in frozen grant money.

- BLOOMBERG

BOSTON, Massachusetts -

The institutions have all received millions of dollars from the federal government for research that has "advanced scientific knowledge, safeguarded national security, strengthened the American economy and saved countless lives", they said in a court filing on June 6 in Harvard's lawsuit.

Harvard sued in April, claiming the government freeze violates the university's First Amendment guarantee of free speech and federal law governing administrative rule-making.