Latest news with #federalFunding
New York Times
4 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump Administration Illegally Withheld Head Start Funds, Watchdog Finds
The Trump administration illegally withheld funding from a roughly $12 billion federal child care program known as Head Start, according to congressional investigators, who said that President Trump and his top aides had wrongly interrupted the flow of money enacted by Congress. The disruption appeared to be resolved by June, according to the Government Accountability Office, a legislative oversight agency. But its conclusions, published Wednesday, still referenced reports showing that the government's actions may have caused immense financial hardship to some child-care services, which struggled to receive federal aid for about three months. It was the third time this year that the congressional watchdog faulted the administration for defying Congress and trying to reconfigure the nation's budget unilaterally. And the findings underscored the stakes of a simmering battle between Capitol Hill and the White House over the power of the purse. The Head Start program funds child care and other services for families in poverty, serving roughly 800,000 children up to age 5, according to recent federal estimates. Even though the safety-net initiative has long enjoyed bipartisan support, Mr. Trump considered proposing its full elimination as part of his fiscal blueprint for 2026, calling its curriculum 'radical.' The president ultimately backed off the idea once he issued his full budget this spring. But some Head Start centers still began to report significant difficulties in getting federal funds that Congress had already approved. Democrats soon alleged that the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start, had stopped providing grants on a timely basis. By April, party lawmakers had determined that the program had supplied about $1 billion less than it had compared with the same time a year earlier. Facing significant disruptions, local Head Start associations joined parents and other groups in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in April. The groups charged that the funding delays were 'unlawful acts in service of an unlawful goal' to undermine Head Start 'in blatant contravention of congressional directives.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Harvard seeks billions in funding restored at a pivotal hearing in its standoff with Trump
BOSTON: Harvard University appeared in federal court Monday in a pivotal case in its battle with the Trump administration, as the storied institution argued the government illegally cut $2.6 billion in federal funding. President Donald Trump's administration has battered the nation's oldest and wealthiest university with sanctions for months as it presses a series of demands on the Ivy League school, which it decries as a hotbed of liberalism and antisemitism. Harvard has resisted, and the lawsuit over the cuts to its research grants represents the primary challenge to the administration in a standoff that is being widely watched across higher education and beyond. A lawyer for Harvard, Steven Lehotsky, said at Monday's hearing the case is about the government trying to control the 'inner workings' of Harvard. The funding cuts, if not reversed, could lead to the loss of research, damaged careers and the closing of labs, he said. 'It's not about Harvard's conduct,' he said. 'It's about the government's conduct toward Harvard.' The case is before US District Judge Allison Burroughs, who is presiding over lawsuits brought by Harvard against the administration's efforts to keep it from hosting international students. In that case, she temporarily blocked the administration's efforts. At Monday's hearing, Harvard asked her to reverse a series of funding freezes. Such a ruling, if it stands, would revive Harvard's sprawling scientific and medical research operation and hundreds of projects that lost federal money. A lawyer for the government, Michael Velchik, said the Trump administration has authority to cancel the grants after concluding the funding did not align with its priorities, namely Trump's executive order combating antisemitism. He argued Harvard allowed antisemitism to flourish at the university following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel, including protesters camped out on campus chanting antisemitic slogans as well attacks on Jewish students. 'Harvard claims the government is anti-Harvard. I reject that,' said Velchik, a Harvard alumnus. 'The government is pro-Jewish students at Harvard. The government is pro-Jewish faculty at Harvard.' Judge questions basis for government's findings on antisemitism Burroughs pushed back, questioning how the government could make 'ad-hoc' decisions to cancel grants and do so without offering evidence that any of the research is antisemitic. At one point, she called the government's assertions 'mind-boggling.' She also argued the government had provided 'no documentation, no procedure' to 'suss out' whether Harvard administrators 'have taken enough steps or haven't' to combat antisemitism. 'The consequences of that in terms of constitutional law are staggering,' she said. 'I don't think you can justify a contract action based on impermissible suppression of speech. Where do I have that wrong.' Velchik said the case comes down to the government's choosing how best to spend billions of dollars in research funding. Harvard's lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of waging a retaliation campaign against the university after it rejected a series of demands from a federal antisemitism task force in April. A second lawsuit over the cuts filed by the American Association of University Professors and its Harvard faculty chapter has been consolidated with the university's. The task force's demands included sweeping changes related to campus protests, academics and admissions. For example, Harvard was told to audit the viewpoints of students and faculty and admit more students or hire new professors if the campus was found to lack diverse points of view. Harvard President Alan Garber says the university has made changes to combat antisemitism but said no government 'should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.' Monday's hearing ended without Burroughs issuing a ruling from the bench. A ruling is expected later in writing. Harvard faculty, alumni rally against cuts Several dozen alumni from Harvard joined students and faculty to decry the effort to cut the federal funds, holding up signs reading 'Hands Off Harvard,' 'Strong USA Needs Strong Harvard' and 'Our Liberty Is Not For Sale.' Anurima Bhargava, who wrote the amicus brief on behalf of more than 12,000 fellow Harvard alumni in the case, said the graduates spoke up because 'they understand what is at stake here and what the end goal of the government is, to take away our ability to pursue the mission, the freedom and the values that have been the cornerstone of higher education.' Three Harvard researchers who lost their federal funding spoke about disruptions to the long-term impact of funding on cancer, cardiovascular diseases and other health conditions. They said the cuts could force researchers to go overseas to work. 'Unfortunately, the termination of this research work would mean the end of this progress and the implications are serious for the well-being of Americans and our children into the future,' said Walter Willett, a Harvard professor of epidemiology and nutrition who lost grants that funded long-term studies of men's and women's health. 'This is just one example of the arbitrary and capricious weaponization of taxpayer money that is undermining the health of Americans,' he said. Trump's pressure campa ign involves a series of sanctions The same day Harvard rejected the government's demands, Trump officials moved to freeze $2.2 billion in research grants. Education Secretary Linda McMahon declared in May that Harvard would no longer be eligible for new grants, and weeks later the administration began canceling contracts with Harvard. As Harvard fought the funding freeze in court, individual agencies began sending letters announcing the frozen research grants were being terminated. They cited a clause that allows grants to be scrapped if they no longer align with government policies. Harvard, which has the nation's largest endowment at $53 billion, has moved to self-fund some of its research, but warned it can't absorb the full cost of the federal cuts. In court filings, the school said the government 'fails to explain how the termination of funding for research to treat cancer, support veterans, and improve national security addresses antisemitism.' The Trump administration denies the cuts were made in retaliation and argues the government has wide discretion to cancel contracts for policy reasons. The research funding is only one front in Harvard's fight with the government. The Trump administration also has sought to prevent the school from hosting foreign students, and Trump has threatened to revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status. Finally, last month, the Trump administration formally issued a finding that the school tolerated antisemitism — a step that eventually could jeopardize all of Harvard's federal funding, including federal student loans or grants. The penalty is typically referred to as a 'death sentence.' After Monday's hearing, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to attack Burroughs, calling her a 'TOTAL DISASTER.' Burroughs was appointed by former President Barack Obama. 'Harvard has $52 Billion Dollars sitting in the Bank, and yet they are anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and anti-America,' he wrote. 'Much of this money comes from the USA., all to the detriment of other Schools, Colleges, and Institutions, and we are not going to allow this unfair situation to happen any longer.'
CBS News
5 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Healey calls on Trump administration to restore funding for major Mass Pike construction project
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is calling on President Donald Trump's administration to restore more than $300 million in federal funding that has been pulled for a major Mass Pike construction project in Boston. The "Big Beautiful Bill" signed into law on July 4 eliminated the Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program that set aside $335 million for the I-90 overhaul in Allston. Healey said Friday that MassDOT has confirmed that the state will only keep $8 million from the grant. "Massachusetts won this funding to support our communities and our economy - and the Trump Administration needs to restore it," the governor said in a statement. "Why would any President of the United States oppose a project that will improve transportation for residents and visitors alike, create thousands of construction jobs, support local businesses and create space for new housing?" The $2 billion project would lower the aging elevated portion of the highway near Boston University to ground level, and straighten out the curve. Plans also call for new housing, park space along the Charles River and a new Commuter Rail station. The state is now undertaking a "strategic review" of the project to figure out a way forward, but Healey said her administration is still committed to getting it done. Other funding sources for the project include $500 million in bonds, $500 million from the millionaire's tax, $200 million from toll revenue, $100 million from the city of Boston and $90 million from Harvard University. "The people of Massachusetts deserve better from their federal government," Healey said. "However, we have known that this day was likely to come, as wrong-headed and frustrating as the decision is."
Washington Post
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Paula Kerger is used to fighting for PBS. Now the stakes are higher.
The Public Broadcasting Service will survive — in some form — no matter how the Senate votes this week on a bill aimed at eliminating the $1.1 billion in federal funding allotted for public media over the next two years, according to PBS chief Paula Kerger. But for local member stations, the legislative package poses an 'existential' threat, she told The Washington Post in an interview Monday at PBS headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
NHK
03-07-2025
- Politics
- NHK
Trump admin resumes funding to Penn after agreement on transgender athletes
A university in the United States has again become eligible for federal funding after banning transgender athletes from women's sports, a move in line with the policy of President Donald Trump. The Trump administration suspended funding to the University of Pennsylvania in March based on its policy stipulating that there are only two sexes -- male and female. The action was related to a transgender swimmer on the university's women's team winning a national championship. The event has ignited a debate over fairness. CNN on Wednesday quoted a White House official as saying that the Trump administration has released 175 million dollars in previously frozen federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania. The university had announced on Tuesday that it will keep transgender athletes out of all women's sports in a policy shift apparently made to concede to pressure from the administration. The Trump administration has notified universities that do not abide by its policies of funding cuts and other measures.
