Trump admin renews effort to exclude Harvard from billions in federal research grants

The Trump administration on Monday said it has started a new process to block Harvard University’s eligibility for federal grant money and its ability to enter into new federal contracts — yet another salvo from Trump officials as they continue to target the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university. 

The Department of Health and Human Services notified Harvard President Alan Garber in a letter Monday that it has initiated the debarment process for the university — a move that would render the school ineligible to receive federal grant money or enter into new federal contracts.

HHS officials cited allegations of antisemitism brought against the university and what Trump officials argued is the school’s failure to comply with recommendations from a federal antisemitism task force earlier this year.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ATTEMPT TO FREEZE MORE THAN $2 BILLION IN HARVARD FUNDS

The familiar refrain has been at the center of a months-long legal fight between Trump officials and Harvard lawyers, who sparred over efforts to comply with recommendations from a federal task force earlier this year.

Trump officials have argued the school has not done enough to comply with the task force recommendations; Harvard has countered that the effort amounts to an unconstitutional “pressure campaign” from the administration to influence and exert control over its academic programs.

It’s unclear how long the debarment process will take, and these efforts are often preceded by a shorter-term period of suspension, according to data from HHS’s Office for Civil Rights.

Still, if successful, the effort could threaten billions of dollars in funding for Harvard at an already vulnerable time for the university. 

The debarment process, if successful, could eventually “blacklist” Harvard from doing business with the government in any capacity — including blocking its ability to accept billions in federal research funds and to sign new contracts with federal agencies.

CONTINUED COURT FIGHTS COULD PUT HARVARD IN UNWINNABLE POSITION VS TRUMP

Harvard’s lawyers have reportedly struggled to negotiate with the Trump administration in ongoing settlement talks, weeks after a judge in Boston sided with Harvard and ordered the administration to restore billions in funding to the school.

The news comes just weeks after a federal judge in Boston sided with Harvard in ruling that the Trump administration had acted illegally in freezing more than $2.2 billion in federal research funding that had been allocated to Harvard. 

In an 84-page summary judgment earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs rejected the Trump administration’s assertion that it was attempting to strip Harvard of billions in federal funding due to allegations of antisemitism, or the university’s failure to comply with the recommendations of a federal antisemitism task force. 

“A review of the administrative record makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that defendants used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities,” Burroughs said in her decision.

HARVARD PRESIDENT SAYS HE HAS ‘NO CHOICE’ BUT TO FIGHT TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Harvard lawyers sued the Trump administration in April over its attempts to freeze billions in federal funding and block other grant money — which they argued in court amounts to an unconstitutional “pressure campaign” designed to influence and exert control over its academic programs.

The New York Times reported that the Trump administration is likely to appeal the ruling, though the time frame for the appeal and the next steps for challenging the summary judgment remain unclear.