Harvard battles Trump administration in court over $2.6bn funding cut
Harvard University took its fight against the Trump administration to a federal court on Monday, arguing that its decision to cut $2.6bn in funding was illegal.
US district judge Allison Burroughs heard arguments from both sides in Boston, Massachusetts, in what is known as a summary judgment in the civil case.
Harvard is arguing that while it acknowledges there have been instances of antisemitism on campus, there is no link between antisemitism and the vital medical and scientific research the university undertakes.
Instead, the Ivy League school says it is being pressured into capitulating to the government's demands, arguing that its First Amendment rights are being violated.
"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.
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"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."
Meanwhile, the government is arguing that the funding freeze is justified because Harvard has not sufficiently tackled antisemitism on campus.
Whilst Burroughs didn't issue a ruling at Monday's hearing, US President Donald Trump still chose to call her a "TOTAL DISASTER."
Burroughs issued an injunction in June to prevent the government from banning international students from attending the university.
He noted she ruled in favour of Harvard in the past, saying they would appeal any unfavourable outcomes.
"When she rules against us, we will IMMEDIATELY appeal, and WIN," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
'Real-life consequences'
The lawsuit, originally filed in April to challenge the $2.6bn federal funding freeze, marked an escalation in Harvard’s fight to maintain academic autonomy in the face of the Trump administration's demands.
In a letter to the Harvard community at the time, the university's president, Alan M Garber, said the administration’s "illegal demands" would impose "unprecedented and improper control over the university".
Garber also said the administration’s threats would have "stark real-life consequences for patients, students, faculty, staff, researchers, and the standing of American higher education in the world".
In its complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, the university said that within hours of receiving a funding freeze, the university began receiving stop work orders which "put vital medical, scientific, technological, and other research at risk”, as well as news that the government was planning to pull an additional $1bn of funding for health research.
The complaint also said the government had threatened to terminate $8.7bn in federal funding to five hospitals in Boston - "independent corporate entities" that are "not under Harvard’s control", calling it an arbitrary decision.
More critically, it said that 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."
Medical research said to be in jeopardy includes improving the prospects of children who survive cancer, understanding at the molecular level how cancer spreads throughout the body, and predicting the spread of infectious disease outbreaks.
The court case is the latest chapter of the tussle between Harvard University and the government.
The university is also taking the government to court after it revoked the institution's ability to host international students.
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