Harvard Pleads Its Case Against Trump

Harvard University will appear in federal court Monday to make the case that the Trump administration illegally cut $2.6 billion from the storied school—a pivotal moment in its battle against the federal government. If US District Judge Allison Burroughs decides in the university's favor, the ruling would reverse a series of funding freezes that later became outright cuts as the Trump administration escalated its fight with the nation's oldest and wealthiest university, per the AP. Such a ruling, if it stands, would revive Harvard's sprawling scientific and medical research operation and hundreds of projects that lost federal money.

"This case involves the Government's efforts to use the withholding of federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decisionmaking at Harvard," the university said in its complaint. "All told, the tradeoff put to Harvard and other universities is clear: Allow the Government to micromanage your academic institution or jeopardize the institution's ability to pursue medical breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, and innovative solutions." A second lawsuit over the cuts filed by the American Association of University Professors and its Harvard faculty chapter has been consolidated with the university's.

Harvard's lawsuit accuses President Trump's administration of waging a retaliation campaign against the university after it rejected a series of demands in an April 11 letter from a federal antisemitism task force. In court filings, the school said the government "fails to explain how the termination of funding for research to treat cancer, support veterans, and improve national security addresses antisemitism." The Trump administration denies the cuts were made in retaliation, saying the grants were under review even before the April demand letter was sent. It argues the government has wide discretion to cancel contracts for policy reasons.