Harvard University has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging unconstitutional government overreach following the freeze of $2.2 billion in federal research funding. The legal action, filed in Boston federal court, escalates a mounting clash between the White House and elite academic institutions over campus oversight, federal grant conditions, and academic freedom.
"The consequences of the government's overreach will be severe and long-lasting," Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a campus-wide message Monday. He accused the administration of imposing "unprecedented and improper control" over university operations and warned that cutting funding for vital research would threaten the lives of future patients and U.S. global competitiveness.
At the core of the dispute is a March letter from federal agencies demanding Harvard comply with an array of policy changes tied to antisemitism enforcement. The administration alleged Harvard had failed to sufficiently "curb or combat" antisemitism on campus. On April 11, officials sent the university a detailed list of required changes, including eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, banning protest masks, implementing merit-based admissions reforms, and weakening faculty governance.
According to the lawsuit, the administration's demands were framed as conditions for continuing financial ties with the federal government. The Department of Education has since frozen $2.2 billion in grants and contracts, threatened Harvard's tax-exempt status, and warned that the university's ability to host international students could be curtailed.
Harvard's legal complaint states: "The Government has not-and cannot-identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen that aims to save American lives, foster American success, preserve American security, and maintain America's position as a global leader in innovation."
The freeze affects more than research. Harvard argues that its financial aid programs, graduate admissions, and employment of faculty and research staff will all suffer if the university must rely solely on its $53 billion endowment. According to the filing, 80% of that endowment is restricted to specific uses, and prolonged funding gaps would leave Harvard operating at "a significantly reduced level."
The National Institutes of Health, which provided $488 million of Harvard's $686 million in federal research funding in fiscal 2024, announced this week it would halt medical research grants to institutions with DEI programs, a move seen by analysts as a direct extension of the Trump administration's broader higher education agenda.
The government is "slamming on the brakes" on research, Garber said. The "victims will be future patients." He cited research on childhood cancer, infectious diseases, and pain management for wounded soldiers as examples of critical projects now in jeopardy.
The White House has not yet commented on the lawsuit. However, the administration's broader campaign has touched other Ivy League institutions. Columbia University ceded control of an academic department and expanded police powers in an effort to preserve federal funding. Princeton, Cornell, Northwestern, and the University of Michigan have all seen funding halted or policy changes demanded.
The lawsuit claims the administration's actions are part of a "pressure campaign" to force submission. The Government's actions "threaten Harvard's academic independence," the complaint states. They "are part of a broader effort by the Government to punish Harvard for protecting its constitutional rights."
Garber joined more than 100 university leaders in a joint letter opposing federal interference in academic governance, released Tuesday by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. "The price of abridging the defining freedoms of American higher education will be paid by our students and our society," the letter read.
