CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard University filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration after the government halted $2.2 billion in research grants, a move the Ivy League institution called unconstitutional and an unlawful overreach of federal authority.
The funding freeze, announced last week, targets a broad range of federally supported research initiatives and stems from what the White House claims are Harvard’s failures to adequately address antisemitism on campus. But in its complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, the university accuses the administration of using unfounded allegations as a pretext to exert political control over the institution’s academic independence.
Harvard President Alan Garber called the federal action “unprecedented and improper,” warning in a public statement that the decision would have “severe and long-lasting consequences” for both the university and the national interest in scientific and technological innovation.
“The government’s actions are not only unlawful and beyond its statutory authority, but they also violate core constitutional principles, including the First Amendment,” Garber said Monday.
The Trump administration’s move to freeze federal grants came after Harvard declined to implement a set of demands from the White House, which included sweeping measures such as a mandatory audit of student body attitudes and a ban on international students perceived as “hostile to American values and institutions.”
In its legal filing, Harvard argued that the administration has failed to demonstrate any legitimate connection between the antisemitism concerns it cited and the broad scope of federally funded research now in jeopardy — much of which has no relationship to campus culture or student conduct.
“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 lawsuit states.
The university is urging the federal court to declare the president’s freeze order unconstitutional and to compel the government to immediately restore funding and reverse any associated terminations. As of Monday evening, the White House had not responded to requests for comment.
The legal battle marks an extraordinary escalation in tensions between one of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions and President Donald Trump’s administration, which has increasingly scrutinized elite universities over issues ranging from campus speech to foreign influence and political ideology.
The outcome of the case could have sweeping implications for the relationship between federal power and academic independence, especially in the realm of research funding. Harvard’s lawsuit warns that allowing such a freeze to stand would not only imperil vital research across disciplines — including medicine, energy, and national defense — but would also set a dangerous precedent for political interference in higher education.
