Source familiar with the probe says admin is ‘laser focused on Harvard’ and will not hesitate to terminate funding
The Trump administration is launching a review of Harvard University’s grants and contracts, citing the school’s “failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination” and its promotion of “divisive ideologies over free inquiry.” If Harvard fails to take “meaningful actions” on those issues as early as this week, the administration will “not hesitate” to terminate funds, a source familiar with the probe told the Washington Free Beacon.
The move is the first step in a regulatory fight between the Trump administration and Harvard that is almost certain to escalate.
A source familiar with the probe said the anti-Semitisim task force is “laser focused on Harvard” and will be “equally aggressive” with the school as it was with Columbia University. In that case, the administration launched an identical funding review on March 3, slashed $400 million in federal funding on March 7, and sent a list of policy demands that it called “preconditions” for “formal negotiations regarding Columbia University’s continued financial relationship with the United States government” on March 13.
Harvard agreed to make some changes aimed at curbing anti-Semitism in January, when it settled a lawsuit with a group of Jewish students. Though the Trump administration’s press release announcing the funding review cites those “recent actions” as “welcome,” it also makes clear that the school must do “much more” to “retain the privilege of receiving federal taxpayers’ hard earned dollars.”
Indeed, the source familiar with the probe said Harvard “has to take meaningful actions this week” to avoid the prompt termination of federal funds.
The Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, and General Services Administration—all members of the administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism—unveiled the probe Monday afternoon. The agencies “will review the more than $255.6 million in contracts” and “more than $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments,” according to their press release.
“Harvard has served as a symbol of the American Dream for generations—the pinnacle aspiration for students all over the world to work hard and earn admission to the storied institution,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination—all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry—has put its reputation in serious jeopardy.”
“Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus.”
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the review.
