President and Fellows of Harvard College v. Department of Health and Human Services

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President and Fellows of Harvard College v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, et al.
District-Massachusetts.png
Court United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Full case name President and Fellows of Harvard College v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., United States Department of Justice, Pamela J. Bondi, United States Department of Education, Linda McMahon, United States General Services Administration, Stephen Ehikian, United States Department of Energy, Christopher A. Wright, United States National Science Foundation, Sethuraman Panchanathan, United States Department of Defense, Peter B. Hegseth, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Janet E. Petro
StartedApril 21, 2025
Citation1:25-cv-11048
Court membership
Judge sitting Allison Burroughs

President and Fellows of Harvard College v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, et al. is a lawsuit filed in April 2025 by the Harvard Corporation against the Trump administration over the suspension of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding. On September 3, Burroughs ruled in favor of Harvard, finding the government had violated its free speech rights and used allegations of antisemitism as a "smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country's premier universities".

Contents

Background

According to university president Alan Garber, funding for research at Harvard was affected by a federal grant pause imposed in January 2025. The pause was later halted by a court order. [1] Garber later criticized funding cuts at the National Institute of Health that would reduce grants at Harvard Medical School. [2] John Shaw, the vice provost for research, submitted a declaration with a lawsuit filed by thirteen universities, though Harvard did not join the lawsuit. [3] In March, the Trump administration stated it would conduct a review of US$9 billion in federal funding to Harvard University. [4]

Lawsuit

On April 21, 2025, the President and Fellows of Harvard College sued several Trump officials, including secretary of health and human services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of education Linda McMahon, acting administrator of the General Services Administration Stephen Ehikian, and attorney general Pam Bondi, as well as their agencies, in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Harvard alleged that the Trump administration had levied its response to the university as "leverage to gain control of academic decision-making at Harvard." [5]

On September 2, The Boston Globe reported that the government's lawyer, Michael Velchik, had previously submitted a paper written from the perspective of Adolf Hitler while a senior at Harvard and later wrote to a friend that he enjoyed Mein Kampf more than any other book he'd read. [6]

On July 21, 2025, Harvard and the Department of Justice made arguments before judge Allison Burroughs in court. [7] On September 3, Burroughs ruled in favor of Harvard, [8] writing that the government had infringed upon Harvard's free speech rights and that it was "difficult to conclude anything other than that defendants used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country's premier universities". [9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Patel, Dhruv; Yoon, Grace (January 29, 2025). "Garber Says Some Harvard Research May Halt After Trump Orders Freeze on Federal Grants". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  2. ↑ Patel, Dhruv; Yoon, Grace (February 10, 2025). "Garber Blasts Trump's Limits on NIH Support for Indirect Costs". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  3. ↑ Patel, Dhruv; Yoon, Grace. "Harvard Submits Declaration Alongside Lawsuit by 13 Colleges Over NIH Order, Calls Funding Caps 'Disastrous'". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  4. ↑ Belkin, Douglas; Randazzo, Sara (April 21, 2025). "Harvard Is Suing the Trump Administration". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  5. ↑ Saul, Stephanie (April 21, 2025). "Harvard University Sues Trump Administration". The New York Times . Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  6. ↑ Burns, Hilary; Kopan, Tal (September 2, 2025). "DOJ lawyer in Harvard case once wrote a paper from Hitler's perspective" . The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  7. ↑ Speri, Alice (July 21, 2025). "Harvard argues in court that Trump administration's $2.6bn cuts are illegal". The Guardian . Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  8. ↑ Patel, Dhruv; Rai, Avani; Sundar, Saketh (September 3, 2025). "Judge Strikes Down Trump Administration Funding Freeze to Harvard as Unconstitutional". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  9. ↑ Blinder, Alan (September 3, 2025). "Judge Rules Trump Administration Illegally Canceled Harvard Funding" . The New York Times. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
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