Harvard University initiated legal action on Monday against the Trump administration, accusing it of leveraging federal funding to impose sweeping and unconstitutional demands on the institution, reports The Harvard Crimson.
The lawsuit, filed in a US district court, alleges that the federal government’s decision to freeze billions in research funding constitutes an unlawful attempt to control the university’s internal operations.
The legal complaint challenges a recent $2.2 billion funding freeze, as well as an anticipated additional $1 billion in cuts reportedly planned by the administration. Harvard contends that the freeze is part of a broader campaign to coerce compliance with political demands, including federal oversight of academic content, personnel decisions, and ideological vetting of international students.
“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,” the university’s legal team stated in the complaint, as quoted by The Harvard Crimson.
The 51-page lawsuit seeks a court injunction to halt what Harvard describes as unconstitutional conditions set forth in letters sent by federal agencies on April 3 and April 11. These letters outlined a list of demands that Harvard claims violate its rights under the First Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Harvard asserts that the Trump administration’s funding freeze is being used to pressure the institution into restructuring its academic governance. The university argues that the actions taken against it are politically motivated and not based on legitimate concerns about civil rights compliance.
The complaint also accuses the Department of Health and Human Services of bypassing required legal processes and asserts that the funding cuts are unrelated to any actual Title VI violations.
The lawsuit names multiple federal agencies as defendants, including the Departments of Education, Justice, Energy, and Defense, as well as NASA and the National Science Foundation. The Departments of Education, HHS, and the General Services Administration were key signatories of the administration’s letters outlining the demands.
This legal challenge follows the federal government’s announcement last week that it would freeze $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard due to its failure to fight campus antisemitism.
That move came after University President Alan M. Garber stated that Harvard would not comply with the administration’s directives.
On Monday, it was reported that the Trump administration is preparing to freeze another billion dollars in federal funding for Harvard University because the administration was angered by Harvard's decision to publish a letter listing the government's demands, as the contents of the letter were supposed to be kept private.
President Donald Trump late last week continued his criticism of Harvard, saying the university is abusing its tax-exempt status and describing it as “antisemitic” over its handling of anti-Israel protests on campus.
“I think Harvard is a disgrace. They're obviously antisemitic, and all of a sudden they're starting to behave,” Trump told reporters.
“But when you see what they were saying, what they were doing, when you see the way they took care of events, when you watch that woman, that horrendous president that ruined the image of Harvard, maybe permanently, in Congress…when you take a look at what happened there, it was horrific.”
Noting that the issue of Harvard’s tax-exempt status is being handled by lawyers, Trump continued, “Tax-exempt status, I mean, it's a privilege. It's really a privilege, and it's been abused by a lot more than Harvard, too. So we'll see how that all works out.”
“I don't think they've made a final ruling. I don't believe they've made a final ruling, but it's something that these schools really have to be very, very careful with,” stated the President.
His comments came a day after two individuals familiar with deliberations at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said Harvard University may soon face the loss of its tax-exempt status.
Harvard, like other universities in the US, has seen an uptick in anti-Israel activity since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the war in Gaza which followed. The university has come under fire over its handling of antisemitism on campus.
Just two days after the October 7 massacre, a coalition of 34 Harvard student organizations released a statement in which they blamed Israel for Hamas’ attack.
Later, then-Harvard President Claudine Gay came under fire after she, along with MIT President Sally Kornbluth and University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, testified before a congressional hearing on the issue of antisemitism on college campuses.
All three university presidents gave similar answers to Rep. Elise Stefanik in which they failed to unequivocally condemn antisemitism or even calls for genocide against Jews. Gay eventually resigned as President of Harvard.