UNITED STATES
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Trump administration cuts extra US$450 million to Harvard

The Trump administration has applied further pressure on Harvard University, cutting an additional US$450 million in grants as part of continuing efforts to impose its political agenda on universities, including ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes.

Harvard – America's oldest and most prestigious university – was notified of the additional cuts via analogous letters received on 12 May, sent by the departments of energy, defence, and housing and urban development, and the National Science Foundation, plus individual grant termination notices sent by the Department of Education. On 9 May the Department of Agriculture also sent a letter announcing the termination of awards.

On 13 May the White House Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism issued a statement in support of the additional cuts, saying: “Eight federal agencies across the government are announcing the termination of approximately US$450 million in grants to Harvard, which is in addition to the US$2.2 billion that was terminated previously.

“The Task Force fully supports the Trump Administration’s multi-agency move to cut funding to Harvard, demonstrating the entire Administration’s commitment to eradicating discrimination on Harvard’s campus.”

The task force said Harvard’s campus had become “a breeding ground for virtue signalling and discrimination”.

The Trump administration’s initial freeze on Harvard funding was announced the same day its university leadership said they would not agree to several changes requested by the government in an 11 April letter, including “governance and leadership reforms”, ending DEI programmes and DEI-based policies, brining in screening to prevent admission of international students "hostile to the American values", reforming programmes with "egregious records of antisemitism" and implementing an audit of the “viewpoint diversity” of students and employees.

Government ‘flouting’ laws

Harvard, a private university, responded to the departments’ letters by amending its lawsuit against the Trump administration to take into account the additional round of cuts.

In the suit, Harvard says the government’s actions “flout not just the First Amendment but also federal laws and regulations”.

The original complaint was filed on 21 April and asked the court to vacate and set aside the termination of US$2.2 billion in grants.

The amended suit accuses the administration of trying to force universities to “allow the government to micromanage your academic institution or jeopardise the institution’s ability to pursue medical breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, and innovative solutions”.

It says Harvard is committed to “combating antisemitism, one of the most insidious forms of bigotry”, and “broadening the intellectual and viewpoint diversity within its community”, but “neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government”.

In response, on 5 May, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon told the university in a letter that it “should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be given”. She claimed that Harvard is engaging in a “systematic pattern of violating federal law”, “racial preferencing” and “ugly racism” and needs to “return to merit-based admissions and hiring”.

University independence

Harvard’s President Alan M Garber, in a letter to McMahon sent on 12 May in response to her letter of 5 May, accused the federal government of “continuing disregard of Harvard’s compliance with the law”, including the Supreme Court’s decision on “Students for Fair Admissions”.

He is also quoted in the lawsuit saying: “[T]he university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.

“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.”

Meanwhile, Harvard has announced that Garber is taking a voluntary 25% pay cut during the 2026 fiscal year, which runs from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, as the university faces a federal funding freeze that now nears US$2.7 billion.

Previous presidents have received more than US$1 million a year, according to CNN.