The Justice Department filed an appeal after a federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s freeze of roughly $2.2 billion in Harvard research funding. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs found the funding terminations unlawful and ruled the government violated Harvard’s First Amendment and Administrative Procedure Act rights when it targeted the university over campus protests and civil‑rights interpretations. The appeal, filed with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, fulfills the administration’s promise to contest the ruling and keeps a high‑stakes dispute over federal leverage, university autonomy and research funding alive. The litigation has implications for other institutions that faced similar federal actions this year. Harvard officials said they remain confident in the district court’s decision; the administration argued the university failed to protect students from harassment. The outcome will affect the stability of large campus research grants and shape how federal agencies and universities negotiate civil‑rights compliance going forward.