Harvard University is set to argue in federal court Monday that the Trump administration illegally stripped it of $2.6 billion, as the wealthy Ivy League school’s funding battle rages on.
US District Judge Allison Burroughs is due to hear oral arguments from lawyers for both Harvard and the Justice Department after the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university sued the Trump administration for slashing its flow of federal funds and grants.
If the judge rules in Harvard’s favor, the ruling would reverse the spate of funding freezes and cuts inflicted by the Trump administration after Harvard refused, in part, to implement reforms to combat antisemitism and address other concerns on campus.
“This case involves the Government’s efforts to use the withholding of federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decisionmaking at Harvard,” the university said in its complaint.
“All told, the tradeoff put to Harvard and other universities is clear: Allow the Government to micromanage your academic institution or jeopardize the institution’s ability to pursue medical breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, and innovative solutions.”
Harvard’s lawsuit accused the White House of waging a retaliation campaign against the Ivy League after it rejected a series of demands in an April 11 letter from a federal antisemitism task force.
The letter demanded sweeping changes tied to campus protests, academics and admissions — as well as ending certain diversity and gender programs in favor of merit.
The Trump administration, for its part, accused the prestigious school of becoming a hotbed of liberalism and tolerating anti-Jewish harassment on campus in the wake of the Oct.7, 2023 terror attacks.
Harvard President Alan Garber vowed to fight antisemitism but said no government “should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”
The university ultimately rejected the demands, which resulted in Trump officials moving to freeze billions in research grants.
Just weeks later, the administration then began canceling contracts with Harvard.
The Trump administration has denied the cuts were retaliatory and that the grants were already under review even before the April demand letter was sent.
Officials argued that the government has wide discretion to cancel contracts for policy reasons.
“It is the policy of the United States under the Trump Administration not to fund institutions that fail to adequately address antisemitism in their programs,” the Trump administration said in court documents.
With Post wires
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