U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has blocked the Trump administration from publishing a confidential list of individual foreign donors who have contributed up to $5.2 billion to U.S. universities since 2020. Ruling in a lawsuit brought by the Association of American Universities, Chutkan issued a 28-day temporary restraining order on October 1, 2026. She ruled that the Department of Education's sudden policy reversal likely violates the Administrative Procedure Act and threatens irreparable harm to donor privacy and safety.
The planned publication of donor names
- ▪The U.S. Department of Education announced in June 2026 that it would reverse its six-year policy and publish the names of individual foreign donors to U.S. universities.
- ▪The U.S. Department of Education set October 2, 2026, as the date to publish the names of all individual foreign donors who have contributed up to $5.2 billion to U.S. universities since 2020.
- ▪The U.S. Department of Education argued in June 2026 that national security benefits of disclosing foreign donor identities outweigh the privacy interests of those donors.
The temporary restraining order
- ▪The U.S. Department of Justice conceded during the court hearing that the only prejudice the government would suffer from a temporary restraining order is a delay in executing its statutory command.
- ▪The temporary restraining order blocking the publication of foreign donor names will remain in place for 28 days while U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan considers a longer-term injunction.
- ▪U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a temporary restraining order on October 1, 2026, blocking the U.S. Department of Education from publishing the names of foreign donors to U.S. universities.
The judge's legal reasoning
- ▪U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan noted that publishing the names of anonymous foreign donors could produce downstream safety risks for donors living in politically repressive countries.
- ▪U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled the U.S. Department of Education's policy change to publish confidential donor names likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act as arbitrary and capricious, lacking a rational explanation or account for serious reliance interests.
- ▪U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that the imminent publication of confidential, personally identifying donor information constitutes irreparable harm because once disclosed, the information cannot regain its confidential nature.
Arguments by the Association of American Universities
- ▪The Association of American Universities warned that exposing donor identities would chill lawful generosity that supports scholarships, research, and teaching at U.S. higher education institutions.
- ▪The Association of American Universities stated that Section 117 of the Higher Education Act only requires universities to report aggregate foreign donation amounts by country, not individual donor names.
- ▪The Association of American Universities argued that member institutions and donors relied on written assurances from the U.S. Department of Education since 2020 that individual donor identities would remain confidential.
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