The Trump administration has intensified its ongoing conflict with Harvard University, filing a new federal lawsuit and launching two additional civil rights investigations in the span of a single week—moves that Harvard and outside critics are characterizing as politically motivated retaliation rather than genuine enforcement.
The Department of Justice filed suit against Harvard in federal court in Massachusetts last Friday, alleging the university failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. The lawsuit seeks to freeze existing federal grants and recover funds already disbursed, with the administration claiming billions in taxpayer dollars were awarded to what it calls a discriminatory institution. Days later, the Department of Education announced two additional investigations—one examining whether Harvard has complied with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling barring race-conscious admissions, and another probing campus antisemitism complaints.
Harvard pushed back sharply. In a statement cited by NBC News, the university vowed to “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.” Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton echoed that framing in response to the Education Department investigations, writing, as reported by the Harvard Crimson, that the actions “represent the government’s latest retaliatory actions against Harvard for its refusal to surrender our independence and constitutional rights.”
The admissions investigation centers on Harvard’s alleged refusal to hand over enrollment data the Education Department requested in May 2025 to verify compliance with the Students for Fair Admissions ruling. Harvard has been given 20 days to comply or face potential enforcement referrals to the Justice Department. Education Secretary Linda McMahon framed the escalation in stark terms, writing in a press release, as quoted by the Crimson, “No one—not even Harvard—is above the law. If Harvard continues to stonewall as we try to verify its basic compliance with antidiscrimination statutes, we will vigorously hold them to account to ensure students’ rights are protected.”
Not everyone accepts the administration’s framing of antisemitism as its primary concern. Kevin Rachlin, vice president of government relations for the Nexus Project, a Jewish watchdog organization, told The Hill that the broader pattern reflects an ideological agenda. “I think, in general, this is just more of the same from this current administration,” Rachlin said, adding that there has been “a trend from this administration … to try to remake” higher education and reduce “the independence of it.”
Jeremy Bauter-Wolf, investigations manager on the higher education program at New America, offered a similar read, also speaking to The Hill. “The administration is very transparently here applying some policy pressure points to try to get these schools to bend to its ideological will,” he said, arguing that the administration’s simultaneous cuts to the Department of Education’s civil rights staff undermine the sincerity of its stated concerns.
The conflict has been escalating for over a year. The Trump administration previously slashed more than $2.6 billion in Harvard’s research funding, ended federal contracts and attempted to block international students from enrolling—actions a federal judge reversed in December, calling the antisemitism rationale a “smokescreen,” according to NBC News. Harvard has also filed its own lawsuits against the administration.
Harvard is not alone. UCLA was also hit with a Justice Department antisemitism lawsuit last month and faces similar pressure, though the California school has pointed to concrete steps it has taken to address the issue, including a $6 million settlement last summer and measurable improvement in its Anti-Defamation League campus grade.
