Harvard University has filed suit against nine federal agencies in the Trump administration after the federal government froze more than $2.2 billion in multi-year research grants and $60 million in contracts.
The move was led by a coalition of executive departments, including Defense, Education, and Health and Human Services.
On April 11, the Department of Health and Human Services, along with other federal agencies, issued Harvard a letter demanding sweeping reforms if it wished to continue receiving federal research funding. The demands included:
- Shuttering of all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs;
- A university-wide “viewpoint audit” to eliminate leftist ideological monocultures;
- Forced hiring and admissions practices to ensure conservative representation;
- Defunding and disbanding of radical pro-Hamas student groups;
- And complete transparency on foreign funding sources.
These measures, according to the government, were necessary to combat antisemitism and restore ideological balance in an institution long captured by left-wing radicals.
President Garber of Harvard fired back, stating, “The administration’s prescription goes beyond the power of the federal government. It violates Harvard’s First Amendment rights and exceeds the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI.
“And it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge. No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” he added.
But the Trump administration isn’t backing down. Sources told Harvard that an additional $1 billion in research funding may soon be revoked, and the Department of Homeland Security is now threatening to revoke Harvard’s international student program. The IRS is also reportedly eyeing Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
Rather than comply, Harvard fired back with a lawsuit claiming the federal government had no right to interfere in its affairs — an ironic move for a school that has historically lobbied for greater federal oversight on everything from speech to climate policy.
In its lawsuit, Harvard claims the freeze is “unconstitutional,” “retaliatory,” and threatens “academic freedom.” The university argues that the government is trying to “micromanage” its internal operations and punish it for resisting federal overreach.
According to the lawsuit reviewed by The Gateway Pundit:
Defendants’ actions are unlawful. The First Amendment does not permit the Government to “interfere with private actors’ speech to advance its own vision of ideological balance,” nor may the Government “rely[] on the ‘threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion . . to achieve the suppression’ of disfavored speech.”
The Government’s attempt to coerce and control Harvard disregards these fundamental First Amendment principles, which safeguard Harvard’s “academic freedom.” A threat such as this to a university’s academic freedom strikes an equal blow to the research conducted and resulting advancements made on its campus.
The Government’s actions flout not just the First Amendment, but also federal laws and regulations. The Government has expressly invoked the protections against discrimination contained in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a basis for its actions.
Make no mistake: Harvard rejects antisemitism and discrimination in all of its forms and is actively making structural reforms to eradicate antisemitism on campus.
But rather than engage with Harvard regarding those ongoing efforts, the Government announced a sweeping freeze of funding for medical, scientific, technological, and other research that has nothing at all to do with antisemitism and Title VI compliance.
Moreover, Congress in Title VI set forth detailed procedures that the Government “shall” satisfy before revoking federal funding based on discrimination concerns.
Those procedures effectuate Congress’s desire that “termination of or refusal to grant or to continue” federal financial assistance be a remedy of last resort.
The Government made no effort to follow those procedures – nor the procedures provided for in Defendants’ own agency regulations—before freezing Harvard’s federal funding.
Harvard requests the court to:
- Expedite the case to prevent further harm.
- Declare the freeze order and related conditions unlawful and unconstitutional.
- Vacate and set aside the freeze order and conditions.
- Postpone the freeze’s effective date.
- Permanently enjoin the defendants from implementing the freeze or similar actions without complying with federal law and Title VI.
- Enjoin violations of Harvard’s First Amendment rights.
- Award costs and attorney’s fees.
- Grant any other just and proper relief.
Yet, critics point out the stunning hypocrisy: Harvard had no problem implementing coercive DEI policies, canceling conservative voices, and caving to woke mobs. But when the government demands actual diversity of thought — suddenly it’s about the First Amendment?
Read Harvard’s lawsuit against the Trump administration.
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