Trump administration freezes $2.2 billion in Harvard grants after university refuses compliance demands

The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in multi-year federal grants to Harvard University and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status after Harvard refused to comply with a list of government demands that included auditing student protesters for viewpoint, disbanding pro-Palestinian campus organizations, and giving federal officials influence over faculty hiring and curriculum. Harvard President Alan Garber published an open letter stating the university would not surrender its independence or its constitutional rights under government pressure. The administration then initiated a review of Harvard's federal contracts across all agencies, putting at risk funding that supported cancer research, public health studies, and basic science programs that had nothing to do with campus protests. Harvard filed a federal lawsuit challenging the funding freeze, establishing the most direct confrontation between the federal government and a major private research university over institutional autonomy in modern American history.