Harvard University asked U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston on Monday to order the Trump administration to reinstate roughly $2.5 billion in canceled federal research grants and to halt further efforts to cut off the Ivy League school’s access to federal funding. Harvard lawyer Steven Lehotsky argued the cancellations violate the First Amendment and jeopardize hundreds of scientific projects, including work on cancer treatments, infectious diseases and Parkinson’s disease. He said the cuts followed Harvard’s April rejection of administration demands to restructure its governance, hiring and admissions practices. Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik told the court the grants were terminated because the government does not want taxpayer money flowing to institutions it believes tolerate antisemitism, saying “Harvard prioritized campus protestors over cancer research.” He contended the dispute belongs in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rather than before Judge Burroughs. Burroughs, an Obama appointee, questioned the breadth of the administration’s authority to end funding on policy grounds, calling the free-speech implications “staggering.” She did not issue an immediate ruling and said she would decide in the coming weeks. Protesters gathered outside the courthouse during the two-hour hearing. The funding fight is part of a wider confrontation in which the White House has threatened Harvard’s accreditation, sought to bar its international students and backed legislation raising the excise tax on the university’s $53 billion endowment to 8% from 1.4%. Harvard President Alan Garber warns the combined measures could cost the school nearly $1 billion a year, forcing layoffs and research cutbacks.