Harvard sues Trump administration over funding freeze
Harvard University has sued US Donald Trump’s administration in the latest escalation between the educational institution and the government, which has threatened funding cuts and sought to impose outside political supervision.
“This case involves the Government’s efforts to use the withholding of federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decision making at Harvard,” the Ivy League university said in a lawsuit that named several other institutions targeted by Trump.
The Harvard Crimson newspaper reported that the university sued the Trump administration in federal court over its multibillion-dollar cuts to research funding. The Trump administration said it planned to cut $1bn in federal grants and contracts from Harvard, on top of an existing $2.2bn cut that was announced last week.
“The tradeoff put to Harvard and other universities is clear: Allow the Government to micromanage your academic institution or jeopardise the institution’s ability to pursue medical breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, and innovative solutions,” Harvard’s lawyers wrote in the filing, according to the student newspaper.
The complaint asked the court to halt and declare unlawful the $2.2bn freeze, as well as any freezes made in connection with “unconstitutional conditions” in the Trump administration’s letters outlining demands to Harvard.
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