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 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.

Harvard is taking the Trump administration to court on Monday over "sweeping and intrusive demands" and the freezing of $2.2 billion in funding.