A federal judge agreed on Monday to expedite Harvard University's lawsuit seeking to block U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from freezing $2.2 billion in federal grant funding that the Ivy League school has warned will threaten vital medical and scientific research.

More than $2 billion in federal funds committed to Harvard University are likely to stay frozen by the Trump administration well into the summer after the sides met for the first time in a Boston courtroom in their high-stakes sparring match over political ideology in American higher education.

A U.S. district judge agreed to fast-track the oral arguments at Harvard's request during a brief convening in a packed Boston courtroom.