Trump administration to halt new research grants for Harvard as battle over political ideology and academic freedom flares

By Betsy Klein and Michelle Krupa, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration unveiled new steps to target federal funding to Harvard University, announcing Monday that it is cutting off all new federal research grants. The move marked the administration’s latest effort to demand political policy changes from the elite university amid a major clash over academic freedom, federal funding and campus oversight.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon is expected to send a letter to Harvard president Alan Garber Monday evening conveying that “Harvard is not eligible for any new grants from the federal government until they demonstrate responsible management of the university,” according to a senior administration official.

McMahon is expected to argue that Harvard’s “terrible behavior” is damaging public confidence in higher education, the official said, and will point to what the official described as “serious failures” on antisemitism, “ongoing discrimination,” “abandonment of rigor and academic excellence,” and a lack of “viewpoint diversity.”

The move will specifically target research grant funding and will not impact federal Pell Grants or student loan funding at this time, the official noted, and is estimated to impact “over $1 billion a year.” The Trump administration has already frozen $2.2 billion in multi-year federal funding.

The Trump administration is willing to negotiate with Harvard to restore the funding, the official said, once it “(enters) into a negotiation with the government to satisfy the government that it’s in compliance with all federal laws.”

Pressed by CNN on what specific benchmarks the administration is looking for, the official indicated there could be a way to fast-track a resolution as Harvard remains under a number of federal government investigations.

“Those investigations would need to lead to resolution agreements that bring Harvard back into compliance with federal law. They could also open up a broader negotiation if they were interested in accelerating that,” the official said.

The Trump administration has promised to revoke the university’s tax-exempt status and threatened its ability to host international students if it doesn’t submit to a long list of demands, including eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs, banning masks at campus protests, enacting merit-based hiring and admissions changes, and turning over foreign students’ discipline records.

The nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, Harvard has sued for the release of federal research funding. CNN reached out Monday to the university about the latest White House move.

Harvard “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” its president has said. “Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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