Washington — The Trump administration said Monday it would cut off all new federal research grants to Harvard University in the latest escalation of its battle with the school.
In a letter, Education Secretary Linda McMahon tells the Ivy League university that it is not eligible for any new federal grants until it meets the administration’s demands and “demonstrates responsible management of the university.”
The two-page letter to the university’s president calls out what the administration views as Harvard’s “systemic pattern of violating federal law.” McMahon accuses Harvard of ignoring antisemitism, engaging in discrimination, abandoning “any semblance of academic rigor” and “disastrous mismanagement.”
“The above concerns are only a fraction of the long list of Harvard’s consistent violations of its own legal duties,” McMahon wrote. “Given these and other concerning allegations, this letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided.”
Federal student loan funding and Pell Grants are not affected by the move, according to a senior Education Department official.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, President Trump said his administration would rescind the university’s tax-exempt status, though he did not provide further details. Harvard president Alan Garber said such a move would be “highly illegal,” in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. U.S. tax code prohibits executive branch officials from asking an IRS employee to conduct or terminate an audit or investigation into a specific taxpayer.
Harvard filed a lawsuit last month after the Trump administration announced it would freeze $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to the university. The grants were frozen after Harvard rejected the administration’s demands to change many of the school’s policies and leadership, discipline student protesters, and audit students and faculty for “viewpoint diversity.”
Harvard alleged that the government’s action violated its constitutional rights and was part of a “pressure campaign to force Harvard to submit to the Government’s control over its academic programs.”
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