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U.S. Justice Department Proposes $1 Billion Settlement With UCLA to Restore Research Grants

The proposal has drawn accusations of political extortion from state officials who plan to challenge the settlement in court

Overview

  • The DOJ draft settlement proposes a $1 billion payment, a separate contribution to a compensation fund and strict operational conditions to unlock $584 million in suspended federal research grants.
  • UCLA and the University of California system are reviewing the terms as Chancellor Julio Frenk warns that prolonged funding freezes would devastate critical scientific and medical research.
  • Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office denounced the demand as political extortion and vowed to sue rather than acquiesce to what it calls a takeover of the nation’s leading public university system.
  • Private institutions such as Columbia and Brown settled similar probes with payments of roughly $200 million and $50 million and policy concessions, while Harvard and several others continue litigation or negotiations.
  • Legal experts and academic leaders warn that leveraging grant funding to enforce policy changes risks chilling free expression, undermining due process and politicizing higher education oversight.