The Trump administration on Monday took a dramatic step toward curtailing Harvard University’s access to federal funding, referring the institution to a program that could bar it from contracts and research grants across government agencies.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced it had sent Harvard to the division in charge of suspension and debarment proceedings, a mechanism usually reserved for entities accused of serious misconduct. That move follows OCR’s earlier referral in July to the U.S. Department of Justice over accusations that Harvard failed to respond adequately to discrimination and harassment complaints raised by Jewish and Israeli students on campus.
OCR Director Paula M. Stannard defended the referral as necessary to “safeguard both taxpayer investments and the broader public interest.” Harvard has 20 days to request a formal hearing before an administrative law judge, who would then decide whether the university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by acting with “deliberate indifference” to antisemitic harassment.
Harvard officials did not immediately respond to the announcement. The university has consistently said it condemns discrimination and has taken steps to address campus tensions.
This maneuver is part of a broader campaign by the administration to use financial leverage to push changes at elite higher-education institutions. Trump and his allies claim many campuses are dominated by antisemitic sentiments and “radical left” ideology and that funding is an appropriate tool to induce institutional reforms. But critics see a dangerous encroachment on academic freedom and institutional autonomy.
Already, Harvard has scored a legal victory. In early September, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled that the Trump administration had unlawfully terminated about $2.2 billion in research grants awarded to Harvard. In her ruling, Burroughs asserted that the administration “used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.” The court barred the government from freezing or withholding additional funds without proper process.
Still, the referral for suspension and debarment signals the administration’s intent to escalate its pressure. If Harvard is suspended, it could temporarily lose access to hundreds of millions in federal support. If debarred, the consequences would be longer lasting and apply across all federal agencies.
The coming weeks will be critical. Harvard must decide whether to request a hearing, and the administration must decide how far it is willing to stretch civil rights enforcement as a vehicle for political leverage. For a university long used to relying on federal grants, the stakes could not be higher.
