Trump moves to cut $100 million in federal contracts with Harvard: Reports

According to an unnamed administration official, contracts with around nine federal agencies would be affected. Examples include a $49,858 contract with the National Institutes of Health to study the effects of coffee drinking and a $25,800 Homeland Security contract for senior executive training. Some contracts may already have received “stop work” orders.

The letter states: “Going forward, we also encourage your agency to seek alternative vendors for future services where you had previously considered Harvard.”

This latest move is part of the administration’s wider attempt to cut ties with the university. Last month, the administration froze $3.2 billion in grants and contracts, and attempted to block Harvard from enrolling international students.

The New York Times reports that the administration has framed its actions as a response to alleged civil rights violations, including claims that Harvard has failed to follow a 2023 Supreme Court ruling banning race-based admissions, allowed antisemitic behaviour on campus, and shown bias in favour of liberal views.

In response, Harvard has taken legal action. The university says the administration is trying to control its operations, including its curriculum and who it can admit. One lawsuit seeks the restoration of the $3.2 billion in frozen funds. Another challenges the ban on international student enrolment.

Last week, a federal judge temporarily restored Harvard’s right to admit international students. A hearing is scheduled this Thursday to decide whether the order will be extended.

Harvard President Alan M. Garber called the actions “unlawful and unwarranted” and said they “imperil the futures of thousands of students and scholars”. His remarks were quoted by The New York Times.

The letter also points to a recent decision by the Harvard Law Review, an independent student-run publication, to award a fellowship to a law student who had been accused but not convicted of  assaulting a Jewish student during a 2023 protest.

It further criticises the university’s approach to admissions. While the administration claims Harvard still uses race as a factor, the percentage of Black students in the first-year undergraduate class dropped from 18% in 2023 to 14% in 2024. At Harvard Law School, Black enrolment fell to 3.4%, its lowest level since the 1960s.

The letter also links the creation of a remedial maths course at Harvard to what it claims are “discriminatory” admissions practices.

During his re-election campaign, Trump has repeatedly criticised elite universities, calling them “Marxist maniacs and lunatics.” The House of Representatives recently approved a plan to tax university endowment returns, which would cost Harvard an estimated $850 million a year. The Senate has yet to vote on the measure.

Harvard, which has a $53 billion endowment and about 6,800 international students, has been at the centre of the administration’s broader attack on higher education, according to The New York Times.

The escalating measures appear to be part of the administration’s larger effort to erode Harvard’s financial stability and international reputation.