Trump administration sues Harvard, saying it violated civil rights law and seeking to recover funds

The Justice Department filed a new lawsuit Friday against Harvard University, saying its leadership failed to address antisemitism on campus, creating grounds for the government to freeze existing grants and seek repayment for grants already paid.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, is another missive in a protracted battle between the administration of President Trump and the elite university.

“The United States cannot and will not tolerate these failures and brings this action to compel Harvard to comply” with federal civil rights law, the Justice Department wrote in the lawsuit, “and to recover billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies awarded to a discriminatory institution.”

In a statement, a Harvard spokesperson said the university has already taken actions to address antisemitism on campus, including training for students, faculty and staff as well as starting programs to promote civil dialogue.

"We will continue to prioritize this important work and will defend the University against this lawsuit, which represents yet another pretextual and retaliatory action by the administration for refusing to turn over control of Harvard to the federal government," the spokesperson said.

Anurima Bhargava, a former Justice Department civil rights attorney, said the Trump administration "thought they would come after Harvard, they would get a big win and then they could go after other institutions.

"I think that they're losing on this, and I think that for that reason, they wanted to take another big swipe here," she said.

Bhargava is also an advisor to the Harvard alumni group, Crimson Courage, which formed in response to Trump's attacks on the university. She said there are legitimate concerns about antisemitism and Islamophobia on campuses in the U.S., but does not see the federal administration's moves against Harvard at effective.

"This is not the way in which to address those concerns," Bhargava said. "This is political football, and it has, as, as the federal court has itself acknowledged the way that the administration is going about this has almost nothing to do with addressing any of those kinds of concerns.”

Kirsten Weld, a history professor and  president of Harvard's faculty chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said faculty are weary. For those reliant on federal contracts to do their research, she said instability undermines their ability to do their job.

"I just think that no matter what happens, there is not a safe and secure and orderly climate for higher education under this administration," she said. "Full stop."

The lawsuit comes after negotiations appear to have bogged down in the months-long battle with the Trump administration that has tested the boundaries of the government’s authority over America’s universities. What began as an investigation into campus antisemitism escalated into an all-out feud as the Trump administration slashed more than $2.6 billion in research funding, ended federal contracts and attempted to block Harvard from hosting international students.

In a pair of lawsuits filed by the university, Harvard has said it’s being unfairly penalized for refusing to adopt the administration’s views. A federal judge agreed in December, reversing the funding cuts and calling the antisemitism argument a “smokescreen.”

Even so, Harvard and the Trump administration have held some negotiations, and the two sides have reportedly been close to reaching an agreement on multiple occasions. Last year, the administration and the university were reportedly approaching a deal that would have required Harvard to pay $500 million to regain access to federal funding and to end the investigations. Almost a year later, Trump upped that figure to $1 billion, saying that Harvard has been “behaving very badly.”

At the same time, the administration was taking steps in a civil rights investigation that had the potential to jeopardize all of Harvard's federal funding, including federal student aid.

In June, the Trump administration said a civil rights investigation had led to a formal finding that Harvard tolerated antisemitism.

In a letter sent to Harvard, a federal task force said its investigation had found the university was a “willful participant” in antisemitic harassment of Jewish students and faculty. The task force threatened to refer the case to the Justice Department to file a civil rights lawsuit “as soon as possible,” unless Harvard came into compliance.

Harvard responded that it strongly disagreed with the government’s findings and was committed to fighting bias.

“Antisemitism is a serious problem and no matter the context, it is unacceptable,” the university said in a statement. “Harvard has taken substantive, proactive steps to address the root causes of antisemitism in its community.”

Since he took office, Trump has targeted elite universities he believes are overrun by left-wing ideology and antisemitism. His administration has frozen billions of dollars in research grants, which colleges have come to rely on for scientific and medical research.

Several universities have reached agreements with the White House to restore funding. Some deals have included direct payments to the government, including $200 million from Columbia University. Brown University agreed to pay $50 million toward state workforce development groups.

With additional reporting from WBUR's Martha Bebinger and Suevon Lee